immune functions

Immunity refers to the ability of the body to resist the invasion of pathogenic microorganisms and resist a variety of diseases. Immunocompromised will inevitably lead to a series of diseases. Immunopotentiator are a class of compounds that enhance immune function and induce immune response. Immunopotentiator can activate the proliferation and differentiation of one or more kinds of immune active cells in the body, promote the secretion of lymphocytes, and then enhance the immune function of the body. Immunopotentiator are mainly used in the treatment of tumors, infectious diseases and immunodeficiency diseases. In addition, immunopotentiator are often used as adjuvants in combination with vaccine antigens to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines.

MCE designs a unique collection of 94 compounds with definite or potential Immunopotentiating effect, mainly targeting the NOD-like Receptor (NLR), Toll-like Receptor (TLR), NF-κB, etc. It is an effective tool for development and research of anti-cancer, anti-infectious diseases and anti-immunodeficiency diseases compounds.

The immune system is a host defense system comprising many biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease. To function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of agents, known as pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, and distinguish them from the organism's own healthy tissue. Inflammation is also the body's attempt at self-protection to remove harmful stimuli and begin the healing process. It’s part of the body's immune response. The immune system recognizes damaged cells, irritants, and pathogens, and inflammation begins the healing process. Inflammatory abnormalities are a large group of disorders that underlie a vast variety of human diseases. The immune system is often involved with inflammatory disorders, demonstrated in both allergic reactions and some myopathies, with many immune system disorders resulting in abnormal inflammation.

MCE designs a unique collection of 5,514 compounds that are useful tool for Immunology/Inflammation research or autoimmune inflammatory diseases drug discovery.

Macrophages are effector cells of the innate immune system, engulfing bacteria and secreting pro-inflammatory and antibacterial mediators. They are an important component of the first line defense against pathogens and tumor cells. In addition, macrophages play an important role in eliminating damaged cells through programmed cell death. Like all immune cells, macrophages originate from pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. Macrophages play key functions in many physiological processes beyond homeostasis and innate immunity, including metabolic function, cell debris clearance, tissue repair, and remodeling. In order to fulfill their different functional roles, macrophages can polarize into a series of phenotypes, including classic (pro inflammatory, M1) and alternative (anti-inflammatory, healing promoting, M2) activation states, as well as a wide range of regulatory phenotypes and subtypes. Macrophages exist in all vertebrate tissues and have a dual function in host protection and tissue damage, maintaining a good balance.

MCE designs a unique collection of 173 macrophage related compounds. It is a good tool to be used for research on Inflammation, cancer and other diseases.

Since ancient times, promoting blood circulation for removing blood stasis (PBCRBS) has been one of the most popular research contents in the area of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and integrated medicine. Rhizoma, Persicae Semen, Carthami Flos, Curcumae Longae Rhizoma and so on are common TCM with PBCRBS characteristic. Studies have shown that the mechanism of action of PBCRBS TCM is to promote blood circulation (improving cardiovascular and cerebrovascular functions, physical and chemical properties of blood, platelet and coagulation system and other physiological functions) and remove blood stasis (anti-myocardial ischemia, cerebral ischemia, inhibition of platelet aggregation, anti-coagulation, anti-thrombosis, etc.). Not only that, PBCRBS TCM has anti-infection, inhibit inflammation, regulate immune function, inhibit immune response, inhibit abnormal tissue proliferation and other functions. Therefore, PBCRBS TCM has high research value in all- field disease research fields.

MCE can supply 1,063 monomer component from more than a hundred sources of PBCRBS TCM, which can be used in TCM studies, drug development and mechanism-based studies.

Nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/Rel proteins include NF-κB2 p52/p100, NF-κB1 p50/p105, c-Rel, RelA/p65, and RelB. These proteins function as dimeric transcription factors that regulate the expression of genes and influence a broad range of biological processes including innate and adaptive immunity, inflammation, stress responses, B-cell development, and lymphoid organogenesis. NF-κB plays a key role in regulating the immune response to infection. In addition, activation of the NF-κB pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Incorrect regulation of NF-κB has been linked to cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, septic shock, viral infection, and improper immune development.

MCE owns a unique collection of 889 small molecule compounds that can be used in the research of NF-κB signaling pathway or high throughput screening (HTS) related drug discovery.

Autoimmune disease is a pathological disease characterized by inflammatory disorders targeting autoantigens. The routine treatment of autoimmune diseases suppresses general immune function to regulate uncontrolled inflammation. The current targeted immunotherapy suppresses the main pro-inflammatory signaling pathways by blocking inflammatory cytokines, cell surface molecules, and intracellular kinases. As key participants in innate immunity, macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) are crucial for Ag presentation and pro-inflammatory cytokine production, such as TNF and IL-1 β、 IL-6, IL-23, B cell activating factor (BAFF), and the proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL, also known as TNFSF13A).

MCE designs a unique collection of 531 autoimmune disease-related compounds, covering multiple targets and subtypes, such as TNF Receptor, IFNAR, JAK, Btk, TLR, IL-6, IL-17, IL-23, etc. It is a useful tool for screening autoimmune disease drugs.

Chemokines, or chemotactic cytokines, are small cytokines or signaling proteins secreted by cells. They are a component of intercellular communication, controlling the directional movement of immune cells especially leukocytes, as well as other cell types, for instance, endothelial and epithelial cells, which are essential to maintain human health and the function of the immune system.

The biological effects of chemokines are achieved by binding to chemokine receptors, which are G protein-coupled receptors found on the surface of leukocytes. Some chemokine receptors are involved in directing tumor metastasis and over-expression by certain tumors. So inhibiting the interaction between chemokine and chemokine receptors on the surface of tumor cells may be a new possible therapeutic approach. Some chemokine receptors are coreceptors for HIV entry, and related inhibitors have been approved by the FDA to treat patients with HIV. Obviously, chemokines and chemokine receptors have become new targets for studying cancer, HIV, inflammation, and other diseases.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 162 chemokine or chemokine receptor inhibitors and activators, all of which have the identified inhibitory or activated effect on chemokine or chemokine receptors. MCE Chemokine Library is a useful tool for drug research related to cancer, AIDS, and wound therapy.

Lactic acid metabolism is one of the key metabolic pathways within living organisms. It plays a crucial role not only in cellular energy conversion but is also closely related to a variety of physiological and pathological processes. The production and clearance of lactic acid are important indicators of cellular metabolic balance, and its abnormal regulation may lead to conditions such as lactic acidosis, muscle fatigue, and hereditary metabolic diseases. Moreover, lactic acid is closely related to the malignancy of tumors and is considered a biomarker for malignant tumors and poor prognosis. Lactic acid can serve as a metabolic substrate to support the metabolic needs of tumor cells under hypoxic conditions, and it can also cause acidification of the tumor microenvironment, suppress immune cell function to promote immune evasion, and induce drug resistance in tumor cells. Currently, targeting lactic acid-lactylation and its related metabolic pathways has become a new research avenue for cancer treatment. In-depth exploration of the molecular mechanisms of lactic acid metabolism can help in screening lead compounds that regulate the lactic acid metabolism.

MCE contains 342 small molecule compounds targeting enzymes involved in lactic acid metabolism. This library is of significant value for researching the role of lactate metabolism in the mechanisms of diseases.

Antibody inhibitors are compounds with the same activity as the original therapeutic antibodies, which can be used as positive controls for drug efficacy evaluation and other studies. Antibody inhibitors can also assist in verifying the functional activity of the target protein. These antibody inhibitors are active in vivo and can achieve certain physiological functions by blocking or neutralizing target proteins, such as CD20, HER2, EGFR, VEGFR, TNF-α, etc. In drug screening, antibody inhibitor-based screening can be carried out to identify active compounds targeting target proteins and target diseases.

MCE can provide 896 antibody inhibitors that can be used for drug development in cancer, immunity, infection and other hot research areas.

Protein serine/threonine kinases (PSKs) are protein kinases that use ATP as a high-energy donor molecule to transfer phosphate groups to serine/threonine residues of target protein. As an important signal transduction regulator, serine/threonine kinases can affect the function of target proteins by disrupting enzyme activity or binding of target proteins to other proteins. Serine/threonine kinases are involved in the regulation of immune response, cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and other physiological processes. Serine/threonine kinase inhibitors are an important class of compounds that have been widely studied in cancer, chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, aging and other diseases.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,371 serine/threonine kinase inhibitors, mainly targeting the receptor PKA, Akt, PKC, MAPK/ERK, etc, which is an effective tool for development and research of anti-cancer, anti-chronic inflammatory diseases, anti-autoimmune diseases and anti-aging compounds.

Inflammasomes are classic pattern recognition receptors for natural immune responses. Inflammasomes are polymeric protein complexes that regulate inflammatory responses and pyrolytic cell death, thereby exerting the host's defense against microorganisms. Inflammasomes sensors are associated with adapter proteins, activating inflammatory caspase-1, releasing inflammatory cytokines and inducing cell death, endowing the host with defense against pathogens. NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4, AIM2, and pyrin are considered typical inflammasomes because they convert cysteine asparaginase-1 into catalytically active capsaicin-1. In addition to infectious diseases, the importance of inflammasomes is also related to various clinical diseases, such as autoimmune diseases, neurodegeneration and metabolic disorders, and the development of cancer. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly regulate the activation and function of inflammasomes to avoid accidental host tissue damage while inducing pathogens to kill the inflammatory response.

MCE designs a unique collection of 81 inflammasomes related compounds. It is a good tool to be used for research on Inflammation, cancer and other diseases.

Cytokines are a kind of low molecular soluble proteins synthesized and secreted by immunogen, mitogen or other factors. They have functions of regulating innate and adaptive immune responses, promoting hematopoiesis, stimulating cell activation, proliferation and differentiation. The process of releasing a large number of cytokines is also called “Cytokine storm”, which can cause damage to many tissues and organs in the body. Cytokine is involved in the pathogenesis of many human diseases, including cancer, diabetes, chronic inflammatory diseases and so on. Cytokine inhibitors are a class of essential compounds that act by directly inhibiting the synthesis and release of cytokine or blocking the binding of cytokine to their receptors. Cytokine inhibitors are important compounds for the study of tumor and autoimmune diseases.

MCE designs a unique collection of 891 cytokine inhibitors, mainly targeting the receptor interleukin (IL), colony-stimulating factor (CSF), interferon (IFN), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), growth factor (GF) and chemokine, which is an effective tool for development and research of anti-cancer, anti-chronic inflammatory diseases and anti-autoimmune diseases compounds.

Most of molecules enter or leave cells mainly via membrane transport proteins, which play important roles in several cellular functions, including cell metabolism, ion homeostasis, signal transduction, the recognition process in the immune system, energy transduction, etc. There are three major types of transport proteins, ATP-powered pumps, channel proteins and transporters. Transport proteins such as channels and transporters play important roles in the maintenance of intracellular homeostasis, and mutations in these transport protein genes have been identified in the pathogenesis of a number of hereditary diseases. In the central nervous system, ion channels have been linked to, but not limited to, many diseases such asataxias, paralyses, epilepsies, and deafness. This indicates the roles of ion channels in the initiation and coordination of movement, sensory perception, and encoding and processing of information. Ion channels are a major class of drug targets in drug development.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,518 smal-molecule modulators that can be used for the research of Ion Channel and Membrane Transporter or high throughput screening (HTS) related drug discovery.

Heat-clearing and detoxification is a specific treatment method in the research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which is clinically used to treat infectious diseases with remarkable effect. Over the past decades, the research of heat-clearing and detoxification treatment has been one of the most active fields of combining traditional Chinese and western medicines, and has made remarkable achievements. Nowadays, the application field of heat-clearing and detoxification traditional Chinese medicine is not only limited to antibacterial and antiviral, but also has made progress in the research fields of anti-inflammatory reaction, anti-endotoxin, anti-peroxidative damage, anti-inflammatory cytokines, enhancement of immune function, protection of cellular organelles, and maintenance of calcium homeostasis. In addition to this, clearing heat and removing toxins has also made significant research progress in non-infectious diseases, for example, in tumors, cardiovascular diseases, renal diseases, blood diseases, geriatrics, and diabetes, all of which have shown good curative effect.

MCE can supply 1,348 monomer component from more than a hundred sources of heat-clearing and detoxification TCM, which can be used in TCM studies, drug development and mechanism-based studies.