solid-state NMR analysis

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver diseases worldwide and is the primary liver manifestation of metabolic syndrome. The growth of NAFLD has coincided with the obesity epidemic. NAFLD is composed of excess lipid accumulation in the liver, causing steatotoxicity, and shows a wide range of histopathological abnormalities. NAFLD may progress from simple steatosis to Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with or without fibrosis (NASH), and eventually to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. To date, very few drugs have been approved for marketing specifically for the treatment of NAFLD, so increased efforts to develop NAFLD drugs are necessary.

MCE designs a unique collection of 5,024 small molecules with definite or potential anti-NAFLD activity, which is an important tool for studying the pathological mechanism of NAFLD and developing drugs for NAFLD.

New drug development is a time-consuming and high-cost process. Drug repurposing (also called drug repositioning, reprofiling or retasking) offers various advantages over developing an entirely new drug for a given indication. First, the risk of failure is lower. Second, the time frame for drug development can be reduced. Third, less investment is needed. Approved drugs and pharmacopoeia collected compounds have identified bioactivities, good pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety which are suitable for drug repurposing.

MCE owns a unique collection of 3,750 compounds from approved institutions such as FDA, EMA, NMPA, PMDA, etc. or pharmacopoeia such as USP, BP, JP, etc. These compounds have well-characterized bioactivities, safety and bioavailability properties. MCE FDA Approved & Pharmacopeial Drug Library is a good tool for drug repurposing which could dramatically accelerate drug development.

Natural products are small molecules produced naturally by any organism including primary and secondary metabolites. Natural sources may lead to basic research on potential bioactive components for commercial development as lead compounds in drug discovery.

Nature has been a source of medicinal agents for thousands of years, and an impressive number of modern drugs have been isolated from natural sources, many based on their use in traditional medicine. With the development of new molecular targets, there is an increasing demand for novel molecular diversity for screening. Natural products will play a crucial role in meeting this demand through the continued investigation of world’s bio-diversity, much of which remains unexplored.

MCE provides a unique collection of 5,121 natural compounds that contain Saccharides and Glycosides, Phenylpropanoids, Quinones, Flavonoids, Terpenoids and Glycosides, Steroids, Alkaloid, Phenols, Acids and Aldehydes. Natural Product Library is a useful tool for drug discovery that can be used for high throughput screening (HTS) and high content screening (HCS).

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 1,827 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.

Lipids are a fundamental class of organic molecules implicated in a wide range of biological processes, and based on this can be broadly classified into five categories: fatty acids, triacylglycerols (TAGs), phospholipids, sterol lipids and sphingolipids. Lipids play a crucial role in different metabolic pathways and cellular functions. Lipid metabolism is an important physiological process that is related to nutrient adjustment, hormone regulation, and homeostasis. Lipid metabolism dysregulation is associated with many diseases such as obesity, liver disease, aging and inflammation.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1,026 compounds related to lipid metabolism, which target relevant targets in the process of lipid metabolism, such as ATGL, MAGL, FAAH, acetyl-Coa Carboxylase, FASN, etc. MCE lipid metabolism compound library is a useful tool for research lipid metabolism and drug discovery of diseases related to lipid metabolism.

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are key signaling molecules and important drug targets. Two classes of PTKs are present in cells: the transmembrane receptor PTKs (RTKs) and the nonreceptor PTKs. The RTK family includes the receptors for insulin and for many growth factors, such as EGFR, FGFR, PDGFR, VEGFR, and NGFR. RTKs are transmembrane glycoproteins that are activated by the binding of their ligands, and they transduce the extracellular signal to the cytoplasm by phosphorylating tyrosine residues on the receptors themselves (autophosphorylation) and on downstream signaling proteins. Their principal functions of PTKs involve the regulation of multicellular aspects of the organism. Cell to cell signals concerning growth, differentiation, adhesion, motility, and death are frequently transmitted through tyrosine kinases. In humans, tyrosine kinases have been demonstrated to play significant roles in the development of many disease states, including diabetes and cancers.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,695 compounds that act as a useful tool for PTKs-related drug screening and disease research.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a hepatotropic enveloped positive- strand RNA virus (family Flaviviridae) that infects the parenchymal cells of the liver. HCV infection is a significant public health burden. Globally, an estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus infection. A significant number of those who are chronically infected will develop cirrhosis or liver cancer. To date, there is no vaccine against HCV, and combination pegylated alpha interferon (pIFN-) and ribavirin, the main standard-of-care treatment for HCV, is effective in only a subset of patients and is associated with a wide spectrum of toxic side effects and complications. More recently, new therapeutic approaches that target essential components of the HCV life cycle have been developed, including direct-acting antiviral (DAA) that specifically block a viral enzyme or functional protein and host-targeted agents (HTA) that block interactions between host proteins and viral components that are essential to the viral life cycle. However, the genetic diversity of HCV viruses and the stage of liver disease (i.e., cirrhosis) are revealing themselves as obstacles for effective, pan-genotypic treatments. There still exists a need for the discovery and development of new HCV inhibitors. In particular, since the future of HCV therapy will likely consist of a cocktail approach using multiple inhibitors that target different steps of infection, new antivirals targeting all steps of the viral infection cycle.

MCE offers a unique collection of 394 compounds with identified and potential anti-HCV activity. MCE Anti- Hepatitis C Virus Compound Library is a useful tool for discovery new anti-HCV drugs and other anti-infection research.

Glycolysis is a series of metabolic processes by which one molecule of glucose is catabolized to two molecules of pyruvate with a net gain of two ATP. Glycolysis takes place in 10 steps and catalyzed by a series of enzyme, such as hexokinase, Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, Phosphofructokinase, etc. Glycolysis is used by all cells in the body for energy generation.

Most cancer cells exhibit increased glycolysis and use this metabolic pathway for generation of ATP as a main source of their energy supply. This phenomenon is known as the Warburg effect and is considered as one of the most fundamental metabolic alterations during malignant transformation. Because increased aerobic glycolysis is commonly seen in a wide spectrum of human cancers, development of novel glycolytic inhibitors as a new class of anticancer agents is likely to have broad therapeutic applications.

MCE provides a unique collection of 1,379 glycolysis compounds that mainly target hexokinase, glucokinase, enolase, pyruvate kinase, PDHK, etc. MCE Glycolysis Compound Library is a useful tool for glucose metabolism research and anti-cancer drug discovery.

Designed to maximize efficiency in hit discovery and optimization, this compound library is built on a foundation of diverse Bemis-Murcko scaffolds, with each scaffold is represented by two specifically derived molecules. This strategy ensures broad chemical space through scaffold diversity while enabling preliminary functional group exploration. This approach provides early structure-activity relationship (SAR) insights for every scaffold, making it a valuable tool for accelerating drug discovery.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and seriously threatens human health. A neoplasm and malignant tumor are other common names for cancer. Disruption of the normal regulation of cell-cycle progression and division lies at the heart of the events leading to cancer. Target therapy, which targets proteins that control how cancer cells grow, divide and spread, plays an important role in cancer treatment. Recent studies mainly focus on targeting the key proteins for cancer surviving, cancer stem cells, the tumor microenvironment, tumor immunology, etc.

MCE designs a unique collection of 11,237 anti-cancer compounds that target kinases, cell cycle key components, tumorigenesis related signaling pathways, etc. MCE Anti-cancer compound library is a useful tool for anti-cancer drug screening.

From the discovery of traditional Chinese medicine to modern antibiotics, natural products have played an important role in the drug development process. A review of all FDA-approved drugs shows that natural products and natural product-like compounds account for more than one-third of all approved drugs. Nearly half of that came from mammals, a quarter from microbes, and a quarter from plants. Over time, the proportion of microbial natural products and natural product derivatives in approved drugs has increased. Natural products have natural advantages in drug development and can be used as lead compounds in drug discovery for drug identification and mechanism research.

MCE provides a unique collection of 20,566 natural compounds and natural product-like compounds that contain saccharides and glycosides, phenylpropanoids, quinones, flavonoids, terpenoids and glycosides, steroids, alkaloid, phenols, acids and aldehydes. Natural product and natural product-like compounds library is a useful tool for drug discovery that can be used for high-throughput screening (HTS) and high-content screening (HCS).

Although brain cancer only accounts for 2% of all tumors, it has a poor prognosis, high mortality and high recurrence rate. Brain cancer can be divided into primary brain cancer and secondary brain cancer. According to the location of the cancer, brain cancer can also be divided into: brain glioma, pituitary adenoma, schwannoma, craniopharyngioma, meningioma and so on. Glioma is the most common primary brain tumor, accounting for about 1/3 of all brain tumors. At present, brain cancer lacks precision targeted therapeutic drugs, and there is still a great clinical demand that has not been met. With the continuous development of high-throughput screening technology, it may be able to help develop effective anti-brain cancer drugs by screening compounds targeting PKC, PD-1, c-Met, PARP, etc targets.

MCE designs a unique collection of 2,134 small molecules with definite or potential anti-brain cancer activity, which is an important tool for studying the pathological mechanism of brain cancer and developing drugs for brain cancer.

MAPK families play an important role in complex cellular programs like proliferation, differentiation, development, transformation, and apoptosis. In mammalian cells, four MAPK families have been clearly characterized: ERK1/2, C-Jun N-terminal kinse/stress-activated protein kinase (JNK/SAPK) , p38 kinase and ERK5. They respond to different signals. Each MAPK-related cascade consists of three enzymes that are activated in series: a MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAPK kinase (MAPKK) and a MAP kinase (MAPK). MAPK signaling pathways has been implicated in the development of many human diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and various types of cancers.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,154 MAPK signaling pathway inhibitors that act as a useful tool for MAPK-related drug screening and disease research.

The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling pathway is involved in many cellular processes in both the adult organism and the developing embryo including cell growth, cell differentiation, apoptosis, cellular homeostasis and other cellular functions. The TGF-β superfamily comprises TGF-βs, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), activins and related proteins. Signaling begins with the binding of a TGF beta superfamily ligand to a TGF beta type II receptor. The type II receptor is a serine/threonine receptor kinase, which catalyzes the phosphorylation of the Type I receptor. The type I receptor then phosphorylates receptor-regulated SMADs (R-SMADs) which can now bind the coSMAD (e.g. SMAD4). R-SMAD/coSMAD complexes accumulate in the nucleus where they act as transcription factors and participate in the regulation of target gene expression. Deregulation of TGF-β signaling contributes to developmental defects and human diseases, including cancers, some bone diseases, chronic kidney disease, etc.

MCE designs a unique collection of 458 TGF-beta/Smad signaling pathway compounds. TGF-beta/Smad Compound Library acts as a useful tool for TGF-beta/Smad-related drug screening and disease research.

A histone modification, a covalent post-translational modification (PTM) to histone proteins, includes methylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitylation, and sumoylation, etc. In general, histone modifications are catalyzed by specific enzymes that act predominantly at the histone N-terminal tails involving amino acids such as lysine or arginine, as well as serine, threonine, tyrosine, etc. The PTMs made to histones can impact gene expression by altering chromatin structure or recruiting histone modifiers. Histone modifications act in diverse biological processes such as transcriptional activation/inactivation, chromosome packaging, and DNA damage/repair. Deregulation of histone modification contributes to many diseases, including cancer and autoimmune diseases.

MCE owns a unique collection of 931 bioactive compounds targeting Epigenetic Reader Domain, HDAC, Histone Acetyltransferase, Histone Demethylase, Histone Methyltransferase, Sirtuin, etc. Histone Modification Research Compound Library is a useful tool for histone modification research and drug screening.

An infection occurs when another organism enters a person’s body and causes disease. The organisms that cause infections are very diverse and can include things like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. The immune system is an effective barrier against infectious agents.

MCE provides a unique collection of 4,884 anti-infective compounds with anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-parasite activities that can be used for drug screening and other research in anti-microbial area.

Natural products are small molecular compounds that occur in nature and come from any organism, including primary and secondary metabolites. Natural products have potential biological activity and can be used as lead compounds for drug discovery. Nature has been a source of medicines for thousands of years, and a large number of drugs have been isolated from nature, many based on their use in traditional medicine. With the development of compound targets, there is an increasing need to screen for compound diversity. Through ongoing research into natural biodiversity, much of which remains to be exploited, natural products will play a key role in meeting this demand. The Lipinski rule of 5 is used to describe the drug-like properties of a molecule, molecules that adhere to the rule of 5 have higher drug potential. Based on MCE natural product library, MCE selects the molecules that obey the rule of 5, which makes the efficiency of drug screening higher.

MCE designs a unique collection of 2,818 RO5 drug-like natural products, which is an important tool for drug discovery.

Ferroptosis is a novel type of cell death program that is distinct from apoptosis, necroptosis and autophagy. It is dependent on iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and is characterized by lipid peroxidation. As a novel type of cell death, ferroptosis has distinct properties and recognizing functions involved in physical conditions or various diseases including cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, acute renal failure, etc.

MCE carefully collected a unique collection of 1,255 ferroptosis signaling pathway related compounds with ferroptosis-inducing or -inhibitory activity. MCE Ferroptosis Compound Library is a useful tool to study ferroptosis mechanism as well as related diseases.

Research has shown that drugs targeting aging pathways demonstrate promising potential in models of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome, osteoarthritis, and various malignancies. This suggests that intervening in the biological processes of aging may enable synergistic prevention and treatment of multiple chronic diseases. Against the backdrop of the gradual elucidation of core aging mechanisms-including cellular senescence, telomere attrition, epigenetic dysregulation, and chronic inflammation anti-aging research has shifted from traditional phenotypic interventions toward targeting key pathways that regulate biological age.

The MCE Anti-Aging Compound Library Mini is precisely built upon this cutting-edge concept. It focuses on aging-related targets validated through genetic or functional studies, comprising 381 compounds designed to provide systematic research tools for aging biology and intervention strategy development. The library covers core mechanisms such as mTOR, SIRT, energy metabolism, clearance of senescent cells, optimization of mitochondrial function, and telomere maintenance. For each target, 1-5 compounds with clear activity and strong representativeness have been carefully selected, spanning the entire translational spectrum from preclinical tool molecules to clinically investigational drugs.