Screening Reagents

The following screening resources are available to CSC users:

• RNAi libraries The CSC uses the Dharmacon genome-wide human siRNA library in house. Other vendors are also being explored for siRNA and shRNA libraries. These additional libraries will provide us with the ability to screen a larger number of cell lines and reduce “off-target” effects.
• Small compound libraries.

Chemical screens are performed in the CSC using libraries including:

• Chem Bridge Express-pick small molecule library of 50,000 molecules, eventually will house over 150,000 molecules from this library. [more info]
• NCI Cancer Compounds — 39 compounds from the NCI that are FDA approved for cancer treatment.
• Prestwick Chemical Library contains 1,120 small molecules, 90% being marketed drugs and 10% bioactive alkaloids or related substances, thus it presents the greatest possible degree of drug-likeliness. The active compounds were selected for their high chemical and pharmacological diversity as well as for their known bioavailability and safety in humans. The Prestwick Chemical Library was designed to reduce the risk of “low quality” hits, reduce the cost of the initial screening, and accelerate lead discovery. [more info]
• Natural products library contains over 5,000 plant and marine natural product extracts.

The Institute is also collaborating with medicinal chemists at the University of Illinois at Chicago to formulate more potent compounds for secondary screens.