Chemical signals

Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that allows a neuron's electrical signal to pass to a postsynaptic neuron or effect target. Neurotransmitters include amino acids, monoamines, and peptides, while other neurotransmitters are composed of metabolites such as nitric oxide and carbon monoxide. The function of neurotransmitters is closely related to the disease of life, helping to regulate the body's heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, sleep, aging and muscle activity. Therefore, research based on neurotransmitters can help to increase human understanding of diseases.

MCE collects and organizes 56 neurotransmitters and is a tool library for drug screening and mechanism research.

Unlike the 20 natural amino acids commonly found within living organisms, non-natural amino acids are synthesized through chemical or biosynthetic methods, thereby being endowed with unique chemical properties or biological activities. In drug development, these amino acids can be utilized to design novel pharmaceutical molecules that may exhibit superior pharmacological characteristics, such as increased selectivity, improved pharmacokinetic profiles, or reduced toxicity. In biomedical research, uon-natural amino acids can act as biological markers or probes for investigating biological processes like cell signaling, protein conformation, and protein-protein interactions. In addition, non-natural amino acids can also be used in the field of agriculture to develop new pesticides, plant growth regulators and so on.

The endocrine system is a chemical messenger system comprising feedback loops of the hormones released by internal glands of an organism directly into the circulatory system, regulating distant target organs. Hormones are chemicals that serve to communicate between organs and tissues for physiological regulation and behavioral activities. Hormones affect distant cells by binding to specific receptor proteins in the target cell, resulting in a change in cell function.

The endocrine system is concerned with the integration of developmental events proliferation, growth, and differentiation, and the psychological or behavioral activities of metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sleep, digestion, respiration, excretion, mood, stress, lactation, movement, reproduction, and sensory perception caused by hormones. Irregulated hormone release, inappropriate response to signaling or lack of a gland can lead to endocrine disease.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1,032 endocrinology related compounds targeting varieties of hormone receptors such as thyroid hormone receptor, TSH receptor, GNRH receptor, adrenergic receptor, etc. MCE Endocrinology Compound Library is a useful tool for the discovery of endocrinology drugs.

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 1,273 antibody inhibitors that can be used for drug development in cancer, immunity, infection and other hot research areas.

The occurrence of diseases is often associated with multiple targets and pathways, and the factors of disease formation are complex and diverse, so the development of more powerful drugs is needed. According to statistics, 21% of the FDA-approved drugs in 2015-2017 were multi-target compounds. Multi-target compounds refer to a drug targeting multiple disease-related targets or multiple subtypes of a target. Multi-target compounds can be applied to drug screening or targeted ligand design. Because the targets of such compounds are diverse and clear, they have the characteristics of saving time and drug cost during the mechanism research of new drug research and development. In addition, due to the diversity of drug targets, multiple strategies can be applied to pharmacological studies.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 5,588 multi-target compounds that targets two or more different targets or different subtypes of the same target. MCE Multi-Target Compound Library can be used for target protein ligand screening or drug development.

PROTACs (Proteolysis-targeting chimeras) is a class of molecules that utilize ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) to ubiquitinate and degrade target proteins. The PROTACs molecule consists of two ligands joined by a linker. The one-to-one interaction between PROTACs and target proteins determines the high efficiency of PROTACs, making it a potential molecule for targeted protein degradation (TPD) therapy.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 383 PROTACs that effectively degrade target proteins with more powerful screening capability. MCE PROTAC Library is a useful tool for signal pathway research, protein degradation therapy research, drug discovery and drug repurposing, etc.

Bioactive compounds are a general term for a class of substances that can cause certain biological effects in the body, which are the main source of small molecule drugs. These compounds generally penetrate cell membranes, act on specific target proteins in cells, regulate intracellular signaling pathways, and cause some changes in cell phenotype.

MCE owns a unique collection of 28,027 compounds with confirmed biological activities and clear targets. These compounds include natural products, innovative compounds, approved compounds, and clinical compounds. This library is a useful tool for signal pathway research, drug discovery and drug repurposing, etc.

Bioactive Compound Library Plus, with more powerful screening capability, further complements Bioactive Compound Library (HY-L001) by adding some compounds with low solubility or solution stability (Part B) and some novel, rare or exclusive compounds (Part C) to this library. Overall, bioactive compound library plus (HY-L001P) includes tree parts: Part A, Part B and Part C. Compounds in Part A are equal to the products in HY-L001, which can be supplied in solution or solid form. Compounds in Part B and C are only supplied in solid form.

Techniques for reprogramming somatic cells create new opportunities for drug screening, disease modeling, artificial organ development, and cell therapy. The development of reprogramming techniques has grown exponentially since Yamanaka reprogrammed somatic cells to become induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) using four transcription factors, OCT4, SOX2, KLF4, and c-MYC in 2006. Despite the development of efficient reprogramming methods, most methods are inappropriate for clinical applications because they carry the risk of integrating exogenous genetic factors or use oncogenes. Alternative approaches, such as those based on miRNA, non-viral genes, non-integrative vectors, and small molecules, have been studied as possible solutions to the problems. Among these alternatives, small molecules are attractive options for clinical applications. Reprogramming using small molecules is inexpensive and easy to control in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. It offers a high level of cell permeability, ease of synthesis and standardization, and it is appropriate for mass-producing cells.

MCE Reprogramming Compound Library contains a unique collection of 2,618 compounds that act on reprogramming signaling pathways. These compounds are potential stimulators for reprogramming. This library is a useful tool for researching reprogramming and regenerative medicine.

Bioactive compounds are a general term for a class of substances that can cause certain biological effects in the body, which are the main source of small molecule drugs. These compounds generally penetrate cell membranes, act on specific target proteins in cells, regulate intracellular signaling pathways, and cause some changes in cell phenotype.

MCE owns a unique collection of 22,701 compounds with confirmed biological activities and clear targets. These compounds include natural products, innovative compounds, approved compounds, and clinical compounds. These can also be used for signal pathway research, drug discovery and drug repurposing, etc.

Kinases is a class of enzymes that adds chemicals called phosphates to other molecules, such as sugars or proteins. Protein phosphorylation serves as a critical regulatory mechanism for numerous cellular processes including cell division, metabolism, and signal transduction, with approximately 50% of cellular functions in humans being regulated by kinase activity. In drug discovery, kinases represent a major category of therapeutic targets, and kinase inhibitors constitute an important class of pharmaceuticals that block the activity of specific disease-associated enzymes, particularly in cancer and inflammatory disorders. Small molecule kinase inhibitors represent one of the fastest-growing drug categories, having received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for both oncological and non-oncological indications. As of September 2023, over 70 FDA-approved small molecule kinase inhibitors are commercially available.

The MCE Kinase Inhibitor Library Mini contains 271 kinase inhibitors primarily targeting protein kinases (VEGFR, EGFR, BTK, CDK, Akt, etc.), lipid kinases (PI3K, PI4K, SK, etc.), and carbohydrate kinases. This collection includes 1-3 highly specific representative compounds per target, optimized for screening of kinase-related drug targets in pharmaceutical research.