Aberrant

The developmental proteins Hedgehog, Notch and Wnt are key regulators of cell fate, proliferation, migration and differentiation in several tissues. Their related signaling pathways are frequently activated in tumors, and particularly in the rare subpopulation of cancer stem cells. The Wnt signaling pathway is a conserved pathway in animals. Deregulated Wnt signaling has catastrophic consequences for the developing embryo and it is now well appreciated that defective Wnt signaling is a causative factor for a number of pleiotropic human pathologies, including cancer. Hedgehog signaling pathway is linked to tumorigenesis and is aberrantly activated in a variety of cancers. The Notch signaling pathway is a highly conserved cell signaling system present in most animals. It plays an important role in cell-cell communication, and further regulates embryonic development.

MCE designs a unique collection of 654 Wnt/Hedgehog/Notch signaling pathway-related small molecules. Wnt/Hedgehog/Notch Compound Library serves as a useful tool for stem cell research and anti-cancer drug screening.

Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs) are a crucial class of protein molecules expressed in cells of the innate immune system. The core function of Pattern Recognition Receptors is to recognize Pathogen-Associated Molecular Patterns (PAMPs) and Damage-Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs). Upon recognizing and binding to PAMPs or DAMPs, PRRs rapidly initiate intracellular signaling pathways (such as the NF-κB, IRF, and inflammasome pathways). This triggers the production of inflammatory factors, chemokines, and type I interferons, thereby initiating inflammatory responses to eliminate pathogens or repair damage. PRRs represent the body's first line of defense against infection, and the rapidity and broad specificity of their response are crucial for host survival. However, aberrant activation of PRR signaling is also a cause of many chronic inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, precisely regulating PRR activity has become a key therapeutic strategy for these conditions.

MCE has cataloged 338 inhibitors targeting key PRRs, such as NLRs, TLRs, C-type Lectin Receptors (CLRs), and cGAS, to support drug discovery efforts for chronic inflammatory diseases.

Lipids are important energy storage substances in the human body. They are involved in the regulation of cell structure and function, as well as signaling pathways and gene expression. Abnormal lipid levels in tissues or their dysregulation can lead to various diseases. These include obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, neurodegenerative diseases, infections, and cancer. Therefore, maintaining normal levels of lipid metabolism is critical to overall health.

One of the key features of cancer is aberrant lipid metabolism. This includes alterations in lipid uptake, lipid desaturation, neolipogenesis, lipid droplets, and fatty acid oxidation in cancer cells. These changes all contribute to cellular survival in an ever-changing microenvironment. They do this by modulating feed-forward oncogenic signals and key oncogenic functions. Additionally, they affect oxidative stress, other types of stress, immune responses, and intercellular communication. Alterations in lipid metabolism have a strong impact on the properties of cancer stem cells. This includes aspects such as self-renewal, differentiation, invasion, metastasis, drug sensitivity, and resistance. Furthermore, these alterations also modulate T cell responses.

MCE can offer 146 metabolites of lipid metabolism pathways, which can be used for drug screening in cancer, immune-based diseases, metabolic diseases, and other diseases.

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 826 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.

The RNA-targeted bioactive compound library is a high-quality collection of small molecules specifically designed and curated to target RNA structures and functions. It is widely applied in cutting-edge drug discovery and life science research. Unlike traditional strategies that focus on protein targets, RNA-targeted compounds can directly modulate various functional RNA molecules by influencing their splicing, translation, stability, or structural conformation, thereby enabling precise intervention in key biological processes. In the field of drug development, these compounds provide a novel approach to addressing previously “undruggable” targets and have demonstrated significant potential in areas such as oncology, antiviral therapies, and neurodegenerative diseases. For example, by targeting disease-associated RNA structural domains or regulating the aberrant expression of non-coding RNAs, these compounds can effectively inhibit disease progression or restore normal cellular function. In mechanistic studies, RNA-targeted compounds serve as valuable chemical biology tools to elucidate the roles of RNA in gene expression regulation, cellular signaling pathways, and disease development.

The MCE RNA-targeted bioactive compound library contains 858 compounds, sourced from databases such as TargetRX Atlas and R-BIND. The library features excellent structural diversity and biological activity, making it suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS), target validation, phenotypic screening, and lead compound discovery. It represents a valuable resource for RNA-related research and innovative drug development.