Chemical Probes Portal
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chemicalprobes.org
Chemical Probes Portal
@chemicalprobes.org
Expert recommendations and info about #ChemicalProbes, particularly small molecule inhibitors, and their use in biomedical research and #DrugDiscovery.
We brought together 22 researchers & 6 experts for a full day of evaluating GPCR and ion channel probes — and completed 26 reviews!
Lots of learning, laughter, and deep discussions about what makes a great chemical probe.

#ChemicalProbes #OpenScience #DrugDiscovery #GPCR #IonChannels
October 20, 2025 at 8:56 AM
We’re in Oxford today for the 1st UK Chemical Probes Hackathon! 🎯
Postdocs & PhD students join experts to assess GPCR probes and improve research quality.
Hosted by @ChemProbes + @UniofOxford
#ChemicalProbes #GPCRs #DrugDiscovery
October 14, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Happening today and tomorrow (7 October)!
Join Müge Sarper, Scientific Coordinator of the Chemical Probes Portal at the @icr.ac.uk, at the poster sessions of the 5th Crick International Cancer Conference.

Stop by to learn how the Portal supports cancer and biomedical research.

#CrickCancerConf
October 6, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Excited to share that Müge Sarper, Scientific Coordinator of the Chemical Probes Portal at the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), will present a poster at the 5th Crick International Cancer Conference (5–7 October 2025, London).

www.crick.ac.uk/whats-on/5th...
5th Crick International Cancer Conference
www.crick.ac.uk
September 22, 2025 at 2:21 PM
🎉 The Chemical Probes Portal turns 10!
We’re honoured to be featured in Dr Dan Erlanson’s latest Practical Fragments blog, reflecting on a decade of advancing chemical biology and open science.

🔗 Read the blog: practicalfragments.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...
#ChemicalProbes #Target2035
The Chemical Probes Portal turns ten. Use it!
Last week we highlighted a new tool to computationally predict whether a molecule might aggregate, thereby causing false positives. This do...
practicalfragments.blogspot.com
August 7, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Chemical Probes Portal
After 5 years of planning and pilot projects, Target2035, which aims to develop and share pharmacological probes for all human proteins by 2035, is coming out of stealth mode. Our Roadmap for accelerating small molecule hit discovery is now published.

rdcu.be/exxi7
Protein–ligand data at scale to support machine learning
Nature Reviews Chemistry - Target 2035 aims to develop a potent and selective pharmacological modulator for every human protein by 2035 with the results made publicly available. This Roadmap...
rdcu.be
July 23, 2025 at 5:25 PM
🚀 On July 21, the Chemical Probes Portal celebrates 10 years! Launched after the landmark 2015 @NatChemBio paper by Arrowsmith et al., it now features >1150 compounds, >600 targets, and 1600+ expert reviews—powering better biomedical research. 🧪🔬
👉 chemicalprobes.org #ChemicalBiology @icr.ac.uk
July 21, 2025 at 7:07 PM
New @ACSChemBio study provides strong evidence that the effects of CDK8/19 inhibitors CCT251545 and CCT251921 are on-target.
Using CRISPR knockouts + phosphoproteomics, authors show transcriptional & antitumor effects depend on CDK8/19.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
#ChemicalProbes #CDK8 #OnTarget
Mediator Kinase Inhibitor Selectivity and Activity in Colorectal Cancer
The Mediator complex is a regulator of gene expression, influencing chromatin structure and RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription. Its activity is controlled by a protein kinase module, which inclu...
pubs.acs.org
July 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM
📣 Happening today!
Join the Babraham Distinguished Lecture with Prof Paul Workman | 1–2pm, 12 June
🧬 “Probing and drugging stress pathways: Chemical Biology and therapeutic discovery”
#Cancer#StressResponse#DrugDiscovery#ChemicalBiology #TargetValidation#MolecularPharmacology #TranslationalResearch
Last chance to register for our next distinguished lecture! 🎟️
We're excited to be welcoming Prof Paul Workman as the next speaker in our distinguished lecture series! Paul will cover the 15-year rollercoaster journey to discover the cancer drug NXP800 and its mechanisms 🧪

Register now to join us on 12th June: www.babraham.ac.uk/seminars/202...
June 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Julio et al. reveal that covalent fragments, often used in screens, can trigger stress/proteostasis responses, complicating target validation. Key takeaway: Rigorous controls are crucial to distinguish genuine on-target effects. #ChemBio #DrugDiscovery #Proteostasis www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Delineating cysteine-reactive compound modulation of cellular proteostasis processes - Nature Chemical Biology
A cysteine-reactive degrader of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14) was identified, which mediates degradation through electrophile-induced gl...
www.nature.com
May 15, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reminder: Tomorrow, Professor Paul Workman will give his Meet the Expert Lecture at #AACR:
Personalized Molecular Medicine Enabled by Multidisciplinary Approaches to Cancer Drug Discovery and Clinical Development.
Details: www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/#!/20273...
#AACR2025 #CancerResearch
April 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Have you caught Episode 6 of the #Target2035 Podcast? 🎙️
Danette Daniels (@ FoghornTx) joins Milka Kostic, to dive into the power of #ProteinDegradation – what sets degraders apart, why #TPD is surging, and how we speed discovery.

Plus: championing #WomenInSTEM 💪
April 16, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Capivasertib – the first-in-class AKT inhibitor – is now approved by NICE for NHS use in England & Wales, following FDA and EMA approvals for cancer treatment. #Oncology #CancerResearch #AKT #TargetedTherapy #NICE @icr.ac.uk
www.icr.ac.uk/about-us/icr...
ICR welcomes NICE recommendation of capivasertib for advanced breast cancer
ICR welcomes NICE recommendation of capivasertib for advanced breast cancer
www.icr.ac.uk
April 15, 2025 at 9:10 PM
🎧 New Target 2035 Podcast!

Rachel Harding & Matthieu Schapira dive into #CACHEChallenges — a global effort to refine small-molecule discovery algorithms with real-world validation.

🔬 How does CACHE boost #DrugDiscovery? Find out: lnkd.in/gcwkUXup

#AIinDrugDiscovery #OpenScience #MachineLearning
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March 16, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Chemical Probes Portal
This excellent commentary is a must-read for cancer biologists (and all biologists, really).
Probing cancer with small-molecule tools—Progress and challenges: Cancer Cell www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...
Our Cancer Cell Commentary reviews progress on chemical probes since Arrowsmith et al. (Nat Chem Biol 2015) and the launch of the Chemical Probes Portal. We highlight key issues, propose solutions, and outline a path to a quality probe for every human protein. #ChemicalProbes
March 2, 2025 at 11:34 AM
📢Looking ahead to #AACR25 in Chicago — only 6 weeks away!

Join the Meet-the-Expert session with Prof. Paul Workman, where he’ll emphasize the critical role of high-quality chemical probes in drug discovery.

📅 April 29, 2025 | ⏰ 5:00-5:45 PM
Learn more👇

#CancerResearch
March 12, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Congratulations to our Chemical Probes Portal Executive Director, Professor Paul Workman, on his election as a Fellow of the AACR Academy Class of 2025! 🎉 An incredible recognition of his lasting impact on cancer research. #AACR #CancerResearch #DrugDiscovery
🎉 We are delighted that Professor Paul Workman has been elected as a Fellow of The American Association for Cancer Research Academy @theaacr.bsky.social

Professor Workman is honoured for his impact on cancer research and is among the 33 new AACR Fellows in 2025.

www.icr.ac.uk/about-us/icr...
March 11, 2025 at 9:27 AM
The Chemical Probes Portal now covers 601 protein targets, expanding resources for chemical biology & drug discovery! 🧪🔬 New high-quality probes target DCTPP1, MASTL, HCN1, plus E3 ligases & PROTACs for protein degradation. Learn more: www.chemicalprobes.org/news/600-tar... #ChemicalProbes
March 5, 2025 at 9:37 AM
We provide a new checklist for selecting & using chemical probes—valuable for researchers, journal editors, reviewers, and vendors. Ensure best practices in chemical biology! 🧪✅

🔗 Supplementary material: ars.els-cdn.com/content/imag...

#ChemicalProbes #DrugDiscovery #ChemicalBiology
ars.els-cdn.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Our Cancer Cell Commentary reviews progress on chemical probes since Arrowsmith et al. (Nat Chem Biol 2015) and the launch of the Chemical Probes Portal. We highlight key issues, propose solutions, and outline a path to a quality probe for every human protein. #ChemicalProbes
February 28, 2025 at 7:34 AM
The brachyury structure, along with crystallographic fragment-based screening and enhanced compounds, may enable the development of chemical probes and future drugs. This approach could also be applied to other hard-to-drug transcription factors and proteins.
ICR's Professor Paul Workman, and researchers at @ox.ac.uk and @uncchapelhill.bsky.social have made a breakthrough that could lead to drugs for the 'undruggable' chordoma - the rare #BoneCancer that killed Paul's mother.

Read more from Professor Workman here ⬇️
www.icr.ac.uk/research-and...
February 24, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Reposted by Chemical Probes Portal
ICR's Professor Paul Workman, and researchers at @ox.ac.uk and @uncchapelhill.bsky.social have made a breakthrough that could lead to drugs for the 'undruggable' chordoma - the rare #BoneCancer that killed Paul's mother.

Read more from Professor Workman here ⬇️
www.icr.ac.uk/research-and...
February 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
🔬 The Chemical Probes Hackathon is underway in Vienna!

Experts from academia & industry, along with international students, are reviewing kinase inhibitors & PROTACs—advancing biomedical research through collaboration.

Excited to see today’s findings! 🚀 #EUFEPS #chemicalprobes
February 20, 2025 at 11:56 AM
🔬 Calling all PhD students & postdocs in chemistry/biology!
Join us at the Chemical Probes Hackathon 🧪:

🗓️ Feb 20, 2025 | 10:00–14:30
📍 Vienna, Austria

💡 Evaluate chemical probes w/ experts & improve global science 🌍.
🎓 Earn a Certificate of Attendance!

Learn more & register 👇
January 28, 2025 at 9:29 AM
🎙️ New podcast episode alert! Professor Paul Workman joins Opher Gileadi on the #Target2035 podcast to dive into the science of chemical probes. 🧪

🔍 What makes a great probe?
🛑 Common lab mistakes.
🌐 Learn about the Chemical Probes Portal.

🎧 Listen now 👇
January 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM