various tumor cells

Radiotherapy is a common treatment for various cancers, and more than 50% of cancer patients require radiotherapy during the disease treatment. With advances in radiation technology and a better understanding of tumor biology, the efficacy of radiation therapy has gradually improved, and more and more patients have benefited from it. However, even with the use of advanced radiotherapy techniques, there are still many malignant tumor cells with low sensitivity to radiation, leading to the radiation effect is not ideal. To solve this problem, radiosensitizers have received more and more attention. Radiosensitizer is a kind of drug that can enhance the radiosensitivity of tumor cells and improve the effect of radiotherapy. Radiation sensitizers act in a variety of ways, such as killing hypoxic cells, enhancing DNA damage, inhibiting DNA damage repair, and blocking cell cycle progression, making tumor cells more susceptible to radiation damage and death than surrounding normal cells.

MCE designs a unique collection of 41 compounds with definite reported radiosensitization. It can be used for drug combination research in anti-cancer treatment.

Radiation sickness is a general term for various types and degrees of damage (or disease) occurring in the human body after exposure to ionizing radiation. Although small amounts of ionizing radiation can also cause the body to produce free radicals and ROS, causing oxidative stress, resulting in DNA damage and chromosomal aberration. Radioprotector are compounds with radiation protection that can be used to prevent/protect non-tumor cells from the harmful effects of radiation. Radioprotective compounds can prevent the damage of radioactive substances to the human body and reduce the clinical symptoms of various radioactive diseases. In addition, radioprotectors can protect normal cells from damage during radiation therapy. The ideal anti-radiation drug should not affect the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiation therapy while protecting normal cells.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,944 radioprotectors. Radioprotector Library is an effective tool for acute Radiation Syndrome, drug combination research with radiation drugs.

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 2,189 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.

Resistance refers to the decrease in the effectiveness of drugs in treating diseases or symptoms. Due to the increasing global antibiotic resistance, it may threaten our ability to treat common infectious diseases. Drug resistance is also the main cause of chemotherapy failure in malignant tumors. In approximately 50% of cases, drug resistance exists even before chemotherapy begins. There are many mechanisms of anticancer drug resistance, including increased protein expression that leads to drug removal, mutations in drug binding sites, recovery of tumor protein production, and pre-existing genetic heterogeneity in tumor cell populations. In addition, the issue of drug resistance seems to have affected the development of new anticancer drugs. Drug resistance may be caused by various conditions, such as mutations, epigenetic modifications, and upregulation of drug efflux protein expression. Overcoming multidrug resistance in cancer treatment is becoming increasingly important.

MCE designs a unique collection of 413 anti-drug-resistant compounds. It is a good tool to be used for research on cancer and other diseases.

Targeted cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecular targets that are involved in the growth, progression, and spread of cancer.

There are several different types of targeted therapy. The most common types are small-molecule drugs and monoclonal antibodies. Small-molecule drugs are small enough to enter cells easily, so they are used for targets that are inside cells, while monoclonal antibodies are usually used for targets that are located outside the cells. Because of high specificity, low side effect and potent anticancer activity, targeted therapy has become the mainstream of new anti-tumor drugs. Various targeted therapies have been approved by FDA and used in the treatment of diseases.

MCE carefully collects a unique of 107 targeted therapy drugs used in cancer treatment. MCE Targeted therapy drug library is a useful tool for the research of targeted therapy.

Oxygen homeostasis regulation is the most fundamental cellular process for adjusting physiological oxygen variations, and its irregularity leads to various human diseases, including cancer. Hypoxia is closely associated with cancer development, and hypoxia/oxygen-sensing signaling plays critical roles in the modulation of cancer progression.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that functions as a master regulator of oxygen homeostasis. A variety of HF-1 target genes have been identified thus far which encode proteins that play key roles in critical developmental and physiological processes including angiogenesis/vascular remodeling, erythropoiesis, glucose transport, glycolysis, iron transport, and cell proliferation/survival.

HIF-1 is a heterodimeric transcription factor consisting of a constitutively expressed β-subunit and an oxygen-regulated α-subunit. The unique feature of HIF-1 is the regulation of HIF-1α expression and activity based upon the cellular O₂ concentration. Under normoxic conditions, hydroxylation of HIF-1α on these different proline residues is essential for HIF proteolytic degradation by promoting interaction with the von Hippel-Lindau tumor-suppressor protein (pVHL) through hydrogen bonding to the hydroxyproline-binding pocket in the pVHL β-domain. As oxygen levels decrease, hydroxylation of HIF decreases; HIF-1α then no longer binds pVHL, and becomes stabilized, allowing more of the protein to translocate to the cell’s nucleus, where it acts as a transcription factor, upregulating (often within minutes) the production of proteins that stimulate blood perfusion in tissues and thus tissue oxygenation.

MCE offers a unique collection of 2,691 oxygen sensing related compounds targeting HIF/HIF Prolyl-Hydroxylase, MAPK/ERK, PI3K/AKT signaling pathways, etc. MCE Oxygen Sensing Compound Library is a useful tool to study hypoxia, oxidative stress and discover new anti-cancer drugs.