small-molecule kinase

Macrocyclic compounds (≥12-atom cyclic small molecules/peptides) have unique physicochemical properties. They form preorganized conformations with high binding affinity/selectivity, target traditional small-molecule-inaccessible proteins, and bridge small-molecule drugs and biological agents. As key protein phosphorylation enzymes, kinases are linked to tumors, COPD, etc., and are critical therapeutic targets. Traditional small-molecule kinase inhibitors lack selectivity, causing off-target toxicity, low bioavailability, and acquired resistance. Macrocycles’ semi-rigid structure restricts conformations, boosts binding selectivity, optimizes pharmacokinetics, and makes macrocyclization a core kinase inhibitor optimization strategy.

Thousands of bioactive macrocycles were curated from ChEMBL. Via Transformer, macrocyclization was converted into a chemical language translation task, enabling end-to-end macrocycle generation from linear precursors with simplified inputs. Macformer achieves efficient, automated linear molecule macrocyclization via deep learning; generated macrocycles have diversity, novelty, biocompatibility, and cover broader chemical space.

MCE collected thousands of marketed/clinical kinase inhibitors, using their fragments for macrocyclization to generate derivatives. After evaluating synthetic accessibility and physicochemical properties, a million-scale virtual macrocyclic library was built for kinase-related virtual and AI-driven screening.

Macrocyclic compounds (≥12-atom cyclic small molecules/peptides) have unique physicochemical properties. They form preorganized conformations with high binding affinity/selectivity, target traditional small-molecule-inaccessible proteins, and bridge small-molecule drugs and biological agents. As key protein phosphorylation enzymes, kinases are linked to tumors, COPD, etc., and are critical therapeutic targets. Traditional small-molecule kinase inhibitors lack selectivity, causing off-target toxicity, low bioavailability, and acquired resistance. Macrocycles’ semi-rigid structure restricts conformations, boosts binding selectivity, optimizes pharmacokinetics, and makes macrocyclization a core kinase inhibitor optimization strategy.

Thousands of bioactive macrocycles were curated from ChEMBL. Via Transformer, macrocyclization was converted into a chemical language translation task, enabling end-to-end macrocycle generation from linear precursors with simplified inputs. Macformer achieves efficient, automated linear molecule macrocyclization via deep learning; generated macrocycles have diversity, novelty, biocompatibility, and cover broader chemical space.

MCE collected thousands of marketed/clinical kinase inhibitors, using their fragments for macrocyclization to generate derivatives. After evaluating synthetic accessibility and physicochemical properties, a million-scale virtual macrocyclic library was built for kinase-related virtual and AI-driven screening.

Kinases is a class of enzymes that adds chemicals called phosphates to other molecules, such as sugars or proteins. Protein phosphorylation serves as a critical regulatory mechanism for numerous cellular processes including cell division, metabolism, and signal transduction, with approximately 50% of cellular functions in humans being regulated by kinase activity. In drug discovery, kinases represent a major category of therapeutic targets, and kinase inhibitors constitute an important class of pharmaceuticals that block the activity of specific disease-associated enzymes, particularly in cancer and inflammatory disorders. Small molecule kinase inhibitors represent one of the fastest-growing drug categories, having received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for both oncological and non-oncological indications. As of September 2023, over 70 FDA-approved small molecule kinase inhibitors are commercially available.

The MCE Kinase Inhibitor Library Mini contains 270 kinase inhibitors primarily targeting protein kinases (VEGFR, EGFR, BTK, CDK, Akt, etc.), lipid kinases (PI3K, PI4K, SK, etc.), and carbohydrate kinases. This collection includes 1-3 highly specific representative compounds per target, optimized for screening of kinase-related drug targets in pharmaceutical research.

MCE Targeted Diversity Library contains 2,300 compounds, covering more than 1000 targets and isoforms, such as GPCRs, Ion channel, variety of kinases, etc. 1-3 compounds with high potency and selectivity were carefully selected for each target and isoform. The bioactivity information of each compound has been clearly reported in the literatures. This library is a concise collection of small molecule compounds with comprehensive target coverage, which can be used for phenotypic screening at low cost.

Adult stem cells are important for tissue homeostasis and regeneration due to their ability to self-renew and generate multiple types of differentiated daughters. Self-renewal is reflected by their capacity to undergo multiple/limitless divisions. Several signaling pathways are involved in self-renewal of stem cells, that is, Notch, Wnt, and Hedgehog pathways or Polycomb family proteins. Recent studies mainly focus on cancer stem cell (CSCs), induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs), neural stem cell and maintenance of embryonic stem cell pluripotency. Among them, CSCs have been believed to be responsible for tumor initiation, growth, and recurrence that have implications for cancer therapy.

MCE owns a unique collection of 2,723 compounds that can be used for stem cell regulatory and signaling pathway research.

Glucose homeostasis is tightly regulated to meet the energy requirements of the vital organs and maintain an individual’s health. Glucose metabolism includes glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, pentose phosphate pathway, oxidative phosphorylation and other metabolic pathways. Glucose is the major carbon source that provides the main energy for life. Glucose metabolism dysregulation is also implicated in many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases and even cancer.

MCE offers a unique collection of 1,652 compounds related to glucose metabolism, which target glucose metabolism related targets, such as GLUT, Hexokinase, Pyruvate Kinase, IDH, etc. MCE glucose metabolism library is a powerful tool for studying glucose metabolism and drug discovery of diseases related to glucose metabolism.

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 1,258 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.

Ion channel is a membrane-binding enzyme whose catalytic site is an ion conduction pore, which is opened and closed in response to specific environmental stimuli (voltage, ligand concentration, membrane tension, temperature, etc.). Ion channel provide pores for the passive diffusion of ions on the biofilm. Due to their high selectivity for ion, ion channel are generally classified as sodium (Na⁺ ), potassium (K⁺ ), calcium (Ca²⁺ ), chloride (Cl^- ), and non-specific cation channel. Ion channel is an important contributor to cell signal transduction and homeostasis. In addition to electrical signal transduction, ion channel also have many functions: regulating vascular smooth muscle contraction, maintaining normal cell volume, regulating glandular secretion, protein kinase activation, etc. Therefore, dysfunction of ion channel can lead to many diseases, and its mechanism research is particularly important.

MCE designs a unique collection of 1,679 small molecules related to ion channel, mainly targeting Na⁺ channel, K⁺ channel, Ca²⁺ channel, GABA receptor, iGluR, etc. It is an essential tool for research of cardiovascular diseases, Nervous system diseases and other diseases.

Dopamine receptor (DAR), widely distributed in the brain, plays a key role in regulating motor function, motivation, driving force and cognition. The role of DA is mediated by D1-type (D1, D5) and D2-type receptors (D2S, D2L, D3, D4), which are distributed in presynaptic, postsynaptic and extrasynaptic, projection neurons and interneurons. Each receptor has a different function. D1 and D5 receptors couple with G stimulation sites and activate Adenylyl cyclase. The activation of Adenylyl cyclase leads to the production of the second messenger cAMP, which leads to the production of protein kinase A (PKA), which leads to further transcription in the nucleus. D2 to D4 receptors are coupled to G inhibitory sites to inhibit adenylyl cyclase and activate potassium Ion channel. These receptors utilize phosphorylation cascades or direct membrane interactions to affect the functions of voltage-gated and neurotransmitter-gated channels, cytoplasmic enzymes, and transcription factors. Dopamine receptor plays an important role in daily life.

MCE designs a unique collection of 267 small molecules related to dopamine receptor. It is a good tool for screening drugs from nervous system disease.

DEL technology enables the simultaneous screening of millions or billions of compounds in a single tube by covalently linking each small molecule with a unique DNA sequence. Traditional DEL screening primarily focuses on identifying non-covalent binding molecules, where interactions with the target are reversible. In contrast, DNA‑encoded covalent library is an ultra‑high‑throughput screening library developed on the basis of conventional DNA‑encoded library technology. It incorporates controllable electrophilic covalent warheads capable of forming irreversible covalent bonds with amino acid residues at the active sites of target proteins, including Cys, Lys, Ser, Tyr, and others. This covalent binding enhances binding affinity, prolongs residence time at the target site, and has the potential to overcome challenges associated with traditional non-covalent inhibitors, such as drug resistance or off-target effects.

Each compound in the library contains both a binding domain and an electrophilic warhead. It first recognizes and binds to the target through non covalent interactions, and then forms a stable covalent bond with key amino acid residues to achieve irreversible inhibition. This library is specifically designed for the discovery of potent, long lasting, and highly selective covalent inhibitors, particularly for undruggable targets such as kinases, GPCRs, proteases, and mutant oncoproteins. Each molecule is uniquely labeled with a DNA barcode for molecular identification and sequencing decoding.

This library is an advanced and highly diverse collection, consists of 35 independent sub-libraries with a total scaleof 14 million compounds, It incorporates over 14 experimentally validated covalent warheads capable of targeting cysteine, lysine, arginine, aspartic acid and glutamic acid. This library is constructed with diverse drug like core scaffolds and integrated controllable covalent warheads, it features structural diversity, reaction spec