intervention

Glutamine is an important metabolic fuel that helps rapidly proliferating cells meet the increased demand for ATP, biosynthetic precursors, and reducing agents. Glutamine Metabolism pathway involves the initial deamination of glutamine by glutaminase(GLS), yielding glutamate and ammonia. Glutamate is converted to the TCA cycle intermediate α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) by either glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) or by the alanine or aspartate transaminases (TAs), to produce both ATP and anabolic carbons for the synthesis of amino acids, nucleotides and lipids. During periods of hypoxia or mitochondrial dysfunction, α-KG can be converted to citrate in a reductive carboxylation reaction catalyzed by IDH2. The newly formed citrate exits the mitochondria where it is used to synthesize fatty acids and amino acids and produce the reducing agent, NADPH.

Cancer cells display an altered metabolic circuitry that is directly regulated by oncogenic mutations and loss of tumor suppressors. Mounting evidence indicates that altered glutamine metabolism in cancer cells has critical roles in supporting macromolecule biosynthesis, regulating signaling pathways, and maintaining redox homeostasis, all of which contribute to cancer cell proliferation and survival. Thus, intervention in glutamine metabolic processes could provide novel approaches to improve cancer treatment.

MCE owns a unique collection of 1,326 compounds targeting the mainly proteins and enzymes involved in glutamine metabolism pathway. Glutamine Metabolism compound library is a useful tool for intervention in glutamine metabolic processes.

The anti-cancer drug library meticulously collects all drugs approved by FDA and other major national drug regulatory authorities for cancer treatment. These drugs cover a variety of cancer types, including but not limited to lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, leukemia, and other common cancers. The library includes a wide range of drugs, from classic chemotherapeutic agents to cutting-edge targeted therapies and immunotherapies. It contains various types of drug compounds with different mechanisms of action. There are cytotoxic drugs that directly kill cancer cells, as well as drugs that work by modulating the tumor microenvironment, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, and activating the immune system. This diversity provides researchers with a broad range of perspectives and options for intervention strategies.

This library can be used for basic research on cancer treatment, exploring new targets and new mechanisms of drug action; Conducting drug reuse research to look for potential therapeutic effects of existing drugs on other cancer types or diseases; Or conducting research into combination drugs to optimize cancer treatment.

MCE has collected 279 small-molecule compounds with cancer indications, which are good tools for drug repurposing.

Neuronal Signaling is involved in the regulation of the mechanisms of the central nervous system (CNS) such as its structure, function, genetics and physiology as well as how this can be applied to understand diseases of the nervous system. Every information processing system in the CNS is composed of neurons and glia, neurons have evolved unique capabilities for intracellular signaling (communication within the cell) and intercellular signaling (communication between cells). G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), including 5-HT receptor, histamine receptor, opioid receptor, etc. are the largest class of sensory proteins and are important therapeutic targets in Neuronal Signaling. Besides, Notch signaling, such as β- and γ-secretase, also plays multiple roles in the development of the CNS including regulating neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation, survival, self-renewal and differentiation. GPCR dysfunction caused by receptor mutations and environmental challenges contributes to many neurological diseases. Notch signaling in neurons, glia, and NSCs is also involved in pathological changes that occur in disorders such as stroke, Alzheimer's disease and CNS tumors. Thus, targeting Neuronal Signaling, such as notch signaling and GPCRs, can be used as therapeutic interventions for several different CNS disorders.

MCE designs a unique collection of 3,303 Neuronal Signaling-related compounds that act as a useful tool for the research of neuronal regulation and neuronal diseases.

RNA is crucial for the regulation of numerous cellular processes and functions. With the in-depth study of disease mechanisms, processes such as RNA expression, splicing, translation, and stability regulation have become new targets for disease intervention. RNA has provided new therapeutic modalities for metabolic diseases, genetic disorders, and cancer patients, resulting in several innovative drugs.

MCE R&D team collected small molecules targeting RNA from the PDB, R-BIND, ROBIN, and internal database as the positive dataset, and non-targeting RNA small molecules from ROBIN as the negative dataset. Based on the GeminiMol pre-trained model, we encoded the molecules and calculated over 1700 molecular descriptors using Mordred as inputs for the model. Subsequently, we employed 13 deep learning models to learn from the data. All of which yielded good training results, with AUROCs greater than 0.75. Ultimately, we selected the Finetune model to screen HY-L901P, which exhibited the best classification performance, achieving an AUROC of 0.82 and a prediction accuracy of 0.76. We then applied filtering based on StaR rules (with at least two of the following properties: cLogP ≥ 1.5, Molar Refractivity ≥ 4, Relative Polar Surface Area ≤ 0.3) to obtain a library containing approximately 5,000 small molecule compounds targeting RNA. This library serves as a valuable tool for screening small molecules that interact with RNA.