target identification

Chemical probes are simply reagents with high potency, selectivity and cell-permeability which play important roles in both fundamental and applied biological research. In their most common application, chemical probes can establish the tractability of a specific target. They are used to interrogate the relationship between a target and its phenotype (biological tractability) as well as an ability to modulate that phenotype using a small molecule. Otherwise, chemical probes also have had a major impact in enabling and accelerating discoveries along the path to pioneer medicines. They have helped to improve the understanding of targets and pathways and have created opportunities for proprietary drug discovery efforts to an extent that would not have been possible otherwise.

MCE provides a unique collection of 268 chemical probes with high potency (at least 100 nM potency), selectivity (at least 10-fold selectivity against any other target) and cell-permeability (at least 10 μM potency). MCE Chemical probe library is a useful tool for target identification and mechanism research.

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative brain disease which causes mental and physical decline, gradually resulting in death. Despite the significant public health issue that it poses, only few medical treatments have been approved for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and these act to control symptoms rather than alter the course of the disease. Discovery of new therapeutic approaches depends on the study of pathology of AD. Recent research findings have led to greater understanding of disease neurobiology in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and identification of unique targets for drug development. Several important mechanisms have been proposed to explain the underlying pathology of AD, such as Amyloid cascade hypothesis, Tau hypothesis and Cholinergic hypothesis, etc.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1,433 compounds with anti-Alzheimer’s Disease activities or targeting the unique targets of AD. MCE Anti-Alzheimer’s Disease Compound Library is a useful tool for exploring the mechanism of AD and discovering new drugs for AD.

Protein protein interactions (PPI) have pivotal roles in life processes. The studies showed that aberrant PPI are associated with various diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. The classic drug targets are usually enzymes, ion channels, or receptors, the PPI indicate new potential therapeutic targets. Therefore, targeting PPI is a new direction in treating diseases and an essential strategy for the development of new drugs.

However, the design of modulators targeting PPI still faces tremendous challenges, such the difficult PPI interfaces for the drug design, lack of ligands reference, lack of guidance rules for the PPI modulators development and high-resolution PPI proteins structures.

With the development of high-throughput technology, high-throughput screening is also gradually used for the identification of PPI inhibitors, but the compound library used for conventional target screening is not very effective in screening PPI inhibitors. To improve screening efficiency, MCE carefully selected 589 PPI inhibitors and mainly targeting MDM2-p53, Keap1-Nrf2, PD-1/PD-L1, Myc-Max, etc. MCE Protein-protein Interaction Inhibitor Library is a useful tool for PPI drug discovery and related research.

Lung cancer is a major global health problem, as it is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Lung cancer is divided into two categories: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 85 percent of lung cancers.

As with all cancers, lung cancer may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy or a combination thereof. Targeted therapy is one of the most exciting developments in lung cancer medicine, especially for NSCLC. Extensive genomic characterization of NSCLC has led to the identification of molecular subtypes of NSCLC that are oncogene addicted and exquisitely sensitive to targeted therapies. These include activating mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and BRAF or echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4)-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusions and ROS1 receptor tyrosine kinase fusions. These are important targets for target therapy.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1,909 compounds with identified and potential anti-lung cancer activity. These compounds target lung cancer’s major targets and signaling pathways. MCE anti-lung cancer compound library is a useful tool for anti-lung cancer drugs screening and other related research.

Fragment-based drug development (FBDD) is a strategy for drug discovery that can be applied both academically and commercially to enhance the identification of some non-drug targets. Fragment-based drug development has identified low molecular weight molecules (<300 Da) capable of binding to related macromolecules. These fragments can cover a wide chemical space and are easy to optimize later. Currently, several fragment-based drugs have entered clinical trials, of which two drugs, Vemurafenib and Venetoclax, have been approved for marketing.

Based on Tanimoto coefficient, MCE uses similarity algorithm to carefully select 2,309 high-structurally diverse 'RO3' compliant fragment molecules from large-scale fragment molecules, which can be applied to fragment based drug development.

Accumulating evidence has revealed that intestinal microbiota play an important role in human health and disease, including cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and depression, etc. Changes in the composition of gut microbiota associated with disease, referred to as dysbiosis, have been linked to pathologies. Indeed, the gut microbiome functions like an endocrine organ, generating bioactive metabolites which play important roles in human metabolism, health, and disease. Gut microbiome has become a novel therapeutic target for many diseases. Analysis and identification of gut microbial metabolite will contribute to the development of therapeutic methods.

In order to meet the need of gut microbiome research, MCE carefully selected a unique collection of 510 gut microbial metabolites. MCE gut microbial metabolite library is a powerful tool for gut microbiome research and gut microbiome -related drug discovery.

Human metabolism is an integral part of cellular function that reflects individual differences in health, disease, diet, and lifestyle. Many health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer are associated with abnormal metabolic states. In the pathological state of the human body, metabolic pathways are significantly altered, resulting in aberrant levels of intermediates or end-products that can be viewed as potential diagnostic biomarkers or even therapeutic targets. Therefore, detection, identification and quantification of human metabolites are very important for drug metabolism research in drug development.

MCE offers a unique collection of 6,193 human metabolites, including endogenous metabolites and exogenous metabolites, covering multiple structure types, such as lipids, amino acids, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, organic acids, biogenic amines, vitamins,. MCE Human Metabolites Library is a helpful tool for studying the relationship between diseases and metabolism.

Traditional Chinese medicine provides abundant natural resources for medicinal compounds, which are often considered effective and safe for drug discovery. Traditional Chinese medicine is based on the principle of "multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways", and naturally has multiple pharmacological effects. As herbal medicine, the secondary plant metabolites in Chinese herbal medicine play an important role in alleviating many diseases in Traditional medicine and folk use. Therefore, the identification of traditional Chinese medicine derived compounds is also an important process in drug development and a necessary factor in dissecting the overall mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine. FDA listed compounds have completed extensive preclinical and clinical studies, exhibiting good biological activity, safety, and bioavailability.

MCE designs a unique collection of 332 FDA-approved traditional Chinese medicine active compounds, including flavonoids, polyphenols, alkaloids, terpenoids, and other structural types. It is a good tool for drug reuse and screening drugs from traditional Chinese medicine sources.

Mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes can modify multiple signaling pathways and in turn cell metabolism, which facilitates tumorigenesis. The paramount hallmark of tumor metabolism is “aerobic glycolysis” or the Warburg effect, coined by Otto Warburg in 1926, in which cancer cells produce most of energy from glycolysis pathway regardless of whether in aerobic or anaerobic condition. Usually, cancer cells are highly glycolytic (glucose addiction) and take up more glucose than do normal cells from outside. The increased uptake of glucose is facilitated by the overexpression of several isoforms of membrane glucose transporters (GLUTs). Likewise, the metabolic pathways of glutamine, amino acid and fat metabolism are also altered. Recent trends in anti-cancer drug discovery suggests that targeting the altered metabolic pathways of cancer cells result in energy crisis inside the cancer cells and can selectively inhibit cancer cell proliferation by delaying or suppressing tumor growth.

MCE provides a unique collection of 2,161 compounds which cover various tumor metabolism-related signaling pathways. These compounds can be used for anti-cancer metabolism targets identification, validation as well anti-cancer drug discovery.

From target identification to clinical research, traditional drug discovery and development is a time-consuming and costly process, which also bears high risk. Compared with traditional drug discovery, drug repositioning or repurposing, also known as old drugs for new uses can greatly shorten the development cycle and reduce development cost, which has become a new trend of drug development. After undergoing clinical trials, approved drugs have identified bioactivities, good pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety, which can greatly improve the success rate of drug discovery. A number of successes have been achieved, such as metformin for type 2 diabetes and thalidomide for leprosy and multiple myeloma, etc.

MCE provides a unique collection of 1,408 China NMPA (National Medical Products Administration) approved compounds, which have undergone extensive preclinical and clinical studies and have well-characterized bioactivities, safety and bioavailability properties. MCE NMPA-Approved Drug Library is a good tool for drug repurposing which could dramatically accelerate drug development.

Epigenetics refers to changes in phenotype that are not rooted in DNA sequence. Many types of epigenetic processes have been identified, including DNA methylation, alteration in the structure of histone proteins and gene regulation by small noncoding microRNAs. Modification of DNA, protein, or RNA, resulting in changes to the function and/or regulation of these molecules, without altering their primary sequences, reveals the complexities of cellular differentiation, embryology, the regulation of gene expression, aging, cancer, and other diseases.

MCE provide a unique collection of 1,247 epigenetics-related compounds that can be used in the research of the related diseases.