Access to MLSCN Screening


High-Throughput Screening and the MLSCN (soon to be MLPCN)

Screening Resources:

The capacity for High Throughput Screening has been built within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors for the purposes of drug development over the last ten years, but similar resources have not existed in the public sector. The Molecular Libraries Roadmap offers public sector biomedical researchers access to the large-scale screening capacity necessary to identify small molecules that can be optimized as chemical probes to study the functions of genes, cells, and biochemical pathways. This will lead to new ways to explore the functions of genes and signaling pathways in health and disease.As these HTS Technologies were not previously available to the public sector, many investigators may not be familiar with the components and requirements of high throughput screening.

The Benefits of Free Screening:

Although the PAR-08-034 does not have any funds associated with it, there are numerous benefits provided by access to the MLSCN resource. Primarily, assay providers get access to compounds of the Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository. Notably, the MLSMR includes natural products, known bioactives, and a large diversity set of compounds. Assay Providers can have their assay screened against approximately 70,000 compounds. The MLSMR is constantly growing, including academic compounds from RFA-RM-06-003 and other commercially available compound sources. Within the next year, the Small Molecule Repository is expected to exceed 200,000 compounds.Additionally, through the network, assay providers have access to cutting-edge high throughput technology and staff expertise. The screening centers network, as a whole, has the capability to run biologically diverse assays in a variety of formats, ranging everywhere from cell-based assays to zebrafish assays. Network scientists and support staff, many with industry experience, will work closely with an assay provider in an integrated assay optimization, biomolecular screening, chemistry, and informatics research effort.

Funded Research

For information about research funded on behalf of the Assay Solicitation Initiative, please follow the embedded link.

Available Funding

Solicitation of Assays for HTS in the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network (MLPCN) (Program Announcement) - (R03/X01):

Through the following Program Announcement, “Solicitation of Assays for High Throughput Screening (HTS) in the Molecular Libraries Probe Production Centers Network (MLPCN) (R03/X01)”, the MLSCN is soliciting applications three times per year from investigators who have developed innovative assays and are interested in having them used in the MLSCN to screen a large number of compounds maintained in a central Small Molecule Repository, and furthermore, interested in expanding the utility of their assay(s) for producing useful in vitro and/or in vivo chemical probes.

All inquiries and Letters of Intent can be sent to MLPhts@mail.nih.gov or:

Yong Yao, Ph.D.
NIH Roadmap Molecular Libraries and Imaging
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7175, MSC 9641
Bethesda, MD 20892
Telephone: (301) 443-6102
Email: yyao@mail.nih.gov

Christine Colvis, Ph.D.
NIH Molecular Libraries & Imaging Roadmap
National Institute on Drug Abuse
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4282, MSC 9555
Bethesda, MD 20892-9555
Telephone: (301) 435-1323
Email: ccolvis@nida.nih.gov

Framework for Assay Provider-Center Collaboration
Guidelines for HTS Screening Assays