DDC Services & Resources

Available Services and Resources:

1. Drug Discovery, Screening, and Development
2. Proprietary South Carolina Compound Library – SC3
3. Synthetic Chemistry
4. Multidisciplinary Expertise and Leadership
5. Cheminformatics
6. High-Content Microscopy
7. MUSC DDC Vault – Discovery Informatics Database

Facilities

The MUSC Drug Discovery Core screening facility occupies approximately 900 sq. ft. of laboratory space located in Room 420 of the Drug Discovery Building at the Medical University of South Carolina. This space is adequate to house the entire screening operation (sample prep, plate prep, bar-coding, liquid handling, plate reader), compound library, and 2 Waters LC/MS instruments. These instruments are available for individual use for a nominal fee. The computational chemistry and bioinformatics center is housed in 90 sq. ft. of laboratory space assigned to Dr. Woster (DD-422A). All data and structural information for the SC3 is stored in a secure compound database (the MUSC Vault) which is accessible to DDC staff and individual PI’s. All proprietary data are stored securely and are unavailable outside the MUSC firewall. The MUSC DDC is also well equipped for chemical synthesis, and can generate libraries of analogues based on optimization of screening hits and lead compounds.

Services

Tier 1 ($500.00):

Virtual (computational)-based screen of SC3, assisted deconvolution of data.

Tier 2a ($650):

Virtual (computational)-based screen of SC3, assisted deconvolution of data, preparation of investigator-derived bioassay (96-well format), physical screen of up to 25 compounds, consultation concerning proposed synthesis and hit-to-lead. Synthetic procedures would be priced separately based on cost of starting materials, number of synthetic steps, etc.

Tier 2b ($850):

Virtual (computational)-based screen of SC3, assisted deconvolution of data, preparation of investigator-derived bioassay (96-well format), physical screen of up to 100 compounds, IC50 determination for top 3 compounds, consultation concerning proposed synthesis and limited derivatization. Synthetic procedures would be priced separately based on cost of starting materials, number of synthetic steps, etc.

Tier 3a ($2,250):

Initial consultation and assay development, preparation of investigator-derived bioassay (96-well format), physical screen of the 1,000-member screening set, assisted deconvolution of data, IC50 determination for top 10 compounds, similarity search of entire SC3 for structural analogues, validation screen for 75 compounds from screen and/or similarity search, preliminary pharmacophore determination, consultation concerning proposed synthesis and limited derivatization. Synthetic procedures would be priced separately based on cost of starting materials, number of synthetic steps, etc.

Tier 3b ($6,000):

Initial consultation and preparation of assay for high-throughput screening, (96-well format), physical screen of the 10,000-member screening set, assisted deconvolution of data, IC50 determination for top 5 compounds, similarity search of entire SC3 for structural analogues, validation screen for 50 compounds from screen and/or similarity search, preliminary pharmacophore determination, consultation concerning proposed synthesis and limited derivatization. Synthetic procedures would be priced separately based on cost of starting materials, number of synthetic steps, etc.

Synthesis and Optimization Capabilities

The MUSC DDC will design a synthetic pathway to produce hit compounds and a limited number of derivatives in high yield, and with sufficient flexibility to introduce chemical diversity. As analogues are produced and evaluated, data from biological studies are used to design more effective analogues, often guided by structure-based design. Our two-fold goal is to maximize efficacy and calculated pharmacokinetic parameters, and to generate new chemical entities (NCEs) that constitute new intellectual property. Thus, faculty and other clients are provided with potential clinical candidates that can be patented and commercialized.