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

Area of Science:

• Medicinal Chemistry
• Chemical Biology
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Lead compound quality is critical for successful chemical probe and drug discovery programs.
• High-throughput screening (HTS) remains a primary method for identifying lead compounds.
• Access to high-quality screening libraries is vital for both academic and industrial research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the strategy for building a large academic compound collection from scratch.
• To outline recent efforts to enhance this collection for future research demands.
• To ensure continued access to high-quality screening libraries for drug discovery.

Main Methods:

• Development of a comprehensive strategy for library construction.
• Systematic curation and annotation of approximately 575,000 small molecules.
• Implementation of multidisciplinary approaches for library enhancement.

Main Results:

• Establishment of one of the largest academic compound collections.
• Creation of a diverse library of carefully annotated small molecules.
• Initiation of a new phase of collection enhancement.

Conclusions:

• A robust strategy for building and maintaining large compound libraries is essential for advancing drug discovery.
• The described collection serves as a valuable resource for academic research.
• Ongoing enhancement ensures the library's relevance for future scientific challenges.