Cell death pathways

Cell death is a core biological process that maintains homeostasis in multicellular organisms, playing a dual role in life activities. On one hand, cell death participates in physiological processes such as cell renewal and damage repair through precise regulation; on the other hand, it actively eliminates damaged, infected, or cancerous cells, thereby blocking pathological progression and preserving organism health. Cell death not only ensures the normal development and growth regulation of organisms but is also closely associated with the occurrence and development of various diseases. Numerous studies have shown that specific types of programmed cell death play critical roles in disease progression, providing an important theoretical basis for developing novel therapeutic strategies by regulating cell death pathways.

MCE offers 22 types of commonly used cell death inhibitors, such as apoptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and cuproptosis, suitable for use as positive controls in the study of novel cell death mechanisms.

Programmed cell death pathways, including apoptosis, pyroptosis and necroptosis, are regulated by unique sets of host proteins that coordinate a variety of biological outcomes. Pyroptosis is a highly inflammatory form of programmed cell death that occurs most frequently upon infection with intracellular pathogens and is likely to form part of the antimicrobial response. This process promotes the rapid clearance of various bacterial, viral, fungal and protozoan infections by removing intracellular replication niches and enhancing the host's defensive responses. Pyroptosis has been widely studied in inflammatory and infection disease models. Recently, there are growing evidences that pyroptosis also plays an important role in the development of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and Metabolic disorder, etc.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,885 pyroptosis-related compounds mainly focusing on the key targets in the pyroptosis signaling pathway and can be used in the research of pyroptosis signal pathway and related diseases.

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 1,177 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.

Apoptosis is an ordered and orchestrated cellular process that occurs in physiological and pathological conditions, which is also called programmed cell death (PCD). Apoptosis plays a crucial role in developing and maintaining the health of the body by eliminating old cells, unhealthy cells and unnecessary cells. Too little or too much apoptosis contribute to many diseases. When apoptosis does not work correctly, cells that should be eliminated may persist and become immortal, for example, in cancer and leukemia. When apoptosis works overly well, it kills too many cells and inflicts grave tissue damage. This is the case in strokes and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease.

MCE designs a unique collection of 3,407 apoptosis-related compounds mainly focusing on the key targets in the apoptosis signaling pathway and can be used in the research of apoptosis signal pathway and related diseases.

Normal mitochondrial function is critical for maintaining cellular homeostasis because mitochondria produce ATP and are the major intracellular source of free radicals. Cellular dysfunctions induced by intracellular or extracellular insults converge on mitochondria and induce a sudden increase in permeability on the inner mitochondrial membrane, the so-called mitochondrial membrane permeability transition (MMPT). MMPT is caused by the opening of pores in the inner mitochondrial membrane, matrix swelling, and outer membrane rupture. The MMPT is an endpoint to initiate cell death because the pore opening together with the release of mitochondrial cytochrome c activates the apoptotic pathway of caspases.

The normal operation of mitochondrial function is important for maintaining normal cell death and treatment of mitochondrial diseases. MCE offers a unique collection of 990 compounds with identified and potential mitochondrial protective activity. MCE Mitochondrial Protection Compound Library is critical for drug discovery and development.

Aging is an unavoidable process, leading to cell senescence due to physiochemical changes in an organism. Aging cells cease to divide and drive the progression of illness through various pathways, resulting in the death of an organism ultimately. Anti-aging activities are primarily involved in the therapies of age-related disorders such as Parkinson's Disease (PD), Alzheimer's Disease (AD), cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.

Natural products are known as effective molecules in anti-aging treatments, which delay the aging process through influencing several pathways and thus ensure an extended lifespan. MCE offers a unique collection of 193 natural products with validated anti-aging activity. MCE anti-aging natural product library is a useful tool for the study of aging-related diseases drugs and pharmacology.

Copper is an important co-factor of all biological enzymes, but if the concentration exceeds the threshold of maintaining the homeostasis mechanism, copper will lead to cytotoxicity. This death mechanism has been named "Cuproptosis".

The mechanism of cuproptosis distinct from all other known mechanisms of regulated cell death, including apoptosis, pyroptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis.

Copper combine with the lipoylated components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), leading to lipoylated protein aggregation and subsequent loss of iron-sulfur cluster proteins, ultimately resulting in protein toxicity stress and cell death. Studies have shown that the necessary factors for cuproptosis include the presence of glutathione, mitochondrial metabolism of galactose and pyruvate, and glutamine metabolism.

Targeted regulation of cuproptosis is a potential choice to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diseases. For example, up-regulation of LIPT1 may inhibit the occurrence and development of tumors by destroying TCA in mitochondria and then inducing cuproptosis.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 394 cuproptosis-related compounds, all of which act on the targets or signaling pathways related to cuproptosis and may have in inhibitory or activated effect on cuproptosis. MCE Cuproptosis Library is a useful tool for drug research related to cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, and other diseases.

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 10,664 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.

Metabolism is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. Metabolic pathways are enzyme-mediated biochemical reactions that lead to biosynthesis (anabolism) or breakdown (catabolism) of natural product small molecules within a cell or tissue. Acting as catalysts, enzymes are crucial to metabolism - they allow a reaction to proceed more rapidly - and they also allow the regulation of the rate of a metabolic reaction. Proteases are used throughout an organism for various metabolic processes. Proteases control a great variety of physiological processes that are critical for life, including the immune response, cell cycle, cell death, wound healing, food digestion, and protein and organelle recycling. Imbalances in metabolic activities have been found to be critical in a number of pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases.

MCE designs a unique collection of 7,056 Metabolism/Protease-related small molecules that act as a useful tool for drug discovery of metabolism-related diseases.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) contributes to the production and folding of approximately one third of cellular proteins, and is thus inextricably linked to the maintenance of cellular homeostasis and the fine balance between health and disease. However, some adverse factors negatively impact ER functions and protein synthesis, resulting in the activation of Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress, ERS) and unfolded protein response (UPR) signaling pathways. The UPR is triggered when ER protein folding capacity is overwhelmed by cellular demand and the UPR initially aims to restore ER homeostasis and normal cellular functions. However, if this fails, then the UPR triggers cell death. Chronic ER stress and defects in UPR signaling are emerging as key contributors to a growing list of human diseases, including diabetes, neurodegeneration and cancer.

MCE Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Compound Library contains 356 ER stress-related compounds that mainly target PERK, IRE1, ATF6, etc. MCE ER stress library is a useful tool for researching ER stress and related diseases.

Lung cancer is a major global health problem, as it is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Lung cancer is divided into two categories: small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Non-small cell lung cancer accounts for about 85 percent of lung cancers.

As with all cancers, lung cancer may be treated with surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy or a combination thereof. Targeted therapy is one of the most exciting developments in lung cancer medicine, especially for NSCLC. Extensive genomic characterization of NSCLC has led to the identification of molecular subtypes of NSCLC that are oncogene addicted and exquisitely sensitive to targeted therapies. These include activating mutations in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and BRAF or echinoderm microtubule-associated protein-like 4 (EML4)-anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusions and ROS1 receptor tyrosine kinase fusions. These are important targets for target therapy.

MCE offers a unique collection of 2,886 compounds with identified and potential anti-lung cancer activity. These compounds target lung cancer’s major targets and signaling pathways. MCE anti-lung cancer compound library is a useful tool for anti-lung cancer drugs screening and other related research.