Evaluating and evolving a screening library in academia: the St Jude approach

Drug Discov Today. 2021 Apr;26(4):1060-1069. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.01.005. Epub 2021 Jan 14.

Abstract

The quality of lead compounds is a key factor for determining the success of chemical probe and drug discovery programs. Given that high-throughput screening (HTS) continues to be a dominant lead generation paradigm, access to high-quality screening libraries is crucial for such efforts in both industry and academia. Here, we discuss the strategy implemented a decade ago to build from scratch one of the largest compound collections in academia, containing ∼575 000 carefully annotated small molecules, and a recent multidisciplinary effort designed to further enhance the collection to meet our research demands for the next decade.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Drug Discovery* / methods
  • Drug Discovery* / organization & administration
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / trends*
  • Humans
  • Interdisciplinary Communication
  • Molecular Probes
  • Pharmaceutical Research / trends
  • Small Molecule Libraries / standards*

Substances

  • Molecular Probes
  • Small Molecule Libraries