liver

Liver cancer is one of the leading malignancies which occupies the second position in cancer deaths worldwide, becoming serious threat to human health. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also known as hepatoma is the most common type accounting for approximately 90% of all liver cancers.

Current evidence indicates that during hepatocarcinogenesis, two main pathogenic mechanisms prevail: (1) cirrhosis associated with hepatic regeneration after tissue damage caused by hepatitis infection, toxins or metabolic influences, and (2) mutations occurring in single or multiple oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes. Both mechanisms have been linked with alterations in several important cellular signaling pathways. These include the RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, WNT/b-catenin pathway, insulin-like growth factor pathway, c-MET/HGFR pathway , etc.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1816 compounds with identified and potential anti-liver cancer activity. MCE anti-liver cancer compound library is a useful tool for anti-liver cancer drugs screening and other related research.

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI; also known as drug-induced hepatotoxicity) is caused by medications (prescription or OTC), herbal and dietary supplements (HDS), or other xenobiotics that result in abnormalities in liver tests or in hepatic dysfunction that cannot be explained by other causes. Drugs are an important cause of liver injury. Drug-induced hepatic injury is the most common reason cited for withdrawal of an approved drug.

DILI is thought to occur via several different mechanisms. Among these are direct impairment of the structural (e.g., mitochondrial dysfunction) and functional integrity of the liver; production of a metabolite that alters hepatocellular structure and function; production of a reactive drug metabolite that binds to hepatic proteins to produce new antigenic drug-protein adducts, which are targeted by hosts’ defenses (the hapten hypothesis); and initiation of a systemic hypersensitivity response (i.e., drug allergy) that damages the liver.

MCE Drug-induced Liver Injury (DILI) Compound Library contains a unique collection of 1391 hepatotoxicity causing compounds and is a powerful tool to research DILI and other drug toxicities. This library can be used to understand the mechanisms of DILI, identify biomarkers for early DILI prediction, and allow timely recognition during drug development, thus finally achieving successful DILI prevention and assessment in the pre-marketing phase.

The cytoskeleton is responsible for contraction, cell motility, movement of organelles and vesicles through the cytoplasm, cytokinesis, intracellular signal transduction, and many other functions that are essential for cellular homeostasis and survival. It accomplishes these tasks through three basic structures: F-actin, microtubules, and intermediate filaments (IFs). The cytoskeleton is a dynamic structure where the three major filaments and tubules are under the influence of proteins that regulate their length, state of polymerization, and level of cross-linking. Since cytoskeleton is involved in virtually all cellular processes, cytoskeletal protein aberrations are the underlying reason for many pathological phenotypes, including several cardiovascular disease syndromes, neurodegeneration, cancer, liver cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, and blistering skin diseases.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1254 cytoskeleton-related compounds mainly focusing on the key targets in the cytoskeleton signal pathway and can be used in the research of cytoskeleton signal pathway and related diseases.

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 283 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.

Mitochondria, as the main place of energy supply in life, is essential to maintain normal life activities. Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with common diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes and cancer. The heart, brain and liver rely heavily on mitochondrial function as the main organs for drug metabolism. In addition, mitochondria is also a target of many drugs, some of which induce organotoxicity by inducing mitochondrial toxicity.

MCE contains 470 mitochondrial toxic compounds, which can be used as tool compounds for drug development, organ toxicity and disease mechanism research.

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 650 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.

Inflammation promotes physiological and pathological processes by the activation of the immune system, local vascular system, and various cells within the damaged tissue. Accumulating epidemiological and clinical evidence shows that chronic inflammation is causally linked to various human diseases, including cerebrovascular, cardiovascular, joint, cutaneous, pulmonary, blood, liver, and intestinal diseases as well as diabetes.

Various natural products from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have been shown to safely suppress proinflammatory pathways and control inflammation-associated disease. MCE designs a unique collection of 1060 Traditional Chinese Medicine active compounds with anti-inflammatory activity, which are derived from Coptis chinensis, Radix isatidis, Flos Lonicerae, Forsythia suspensa, etc. MCE Anti-inflammatory Traditional Chinese Medicine Active Compound Library is a useful tool for discovery anti-inflammatory drugs from TCM.

The TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle)—is also known as the Krebs cycle or the citric acid cycle (CAC). The TCA cycle is a series of chemical reactions that release stored energy through the oxidation of acetyl-CoA in carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

For decades, the TCA cycle has been considered as the central pathway for cell oxidative phosphorylation to produce energy and biosynthesis. Research shows that TCA cycle is associated with many diseases, especially cancer. In colon carcinoma, liver cancer and other cancers, there are mutations that lead to the imbalance of TCA cycle metabolites, indicating that TCA cycle may be related to the occurrence of cancer. Understanding the role and molecular mechanism of TCA cycle in inhibiting or promoting cancer progression will promote the development of new metabolite-based cancer treatment methods in the future.

MCE supplies a unique collection of 65 compounds related to the TCA cycle. MCE TCA Cycle Compound Library is a useful tool for the TCA cycle related research and anti-cancer drug development.

Obesity is widely recognized as the largest and fastest growing public health problem and is associated with numerous chronic disorders including osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, gallstones, fatty liver disease, reproductive and gastrointestinal cancers, dyslipidemia, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease, stroke, etc. Although obesity has long been associated with serious health issues, it has only recently been regarded as a disease in the sense of being a specific target for medical therapy. Obesity may be viewed as the dysregulation of two physiological functions, appetite regulation and energy metabolism, which combine to create disordered energy balance. Consequently, developing obesity treatments that target novel pathways is a growing focus for both biopharmaceutical industries.

MCE Anti-Obesity Compound Library owns a unique collection of 2338 compounds, which mainly target signaling pathway of controlling appetite, fatty acid metabolism and energy expenditure, etc. This library is a useful tool for discovery anti-obesity drugs.