What is the Chemical Probes Portal?

The Chemical Probes Portal is the first place to go for information and recommendations about chemical probes. The Portal is a free resource providing expert recommendations about chemical tool compounds, including inhibitors, PROTACs, molecular glues and selective agonists.

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The Portal has over 600 compounds listed, and 170 chemistry, biology and drug discovery experts in the Scientific Expert Review Panel. Each compound is reviewed by three experts and given a rating out of four stars for use in cell systems and in in vivo experiments.

Search for chemical tools

From the home page or the search bar, you can search for a protein target and see matching probes, ranked by their rating. You can also search by compound name to find information about that compound.

Clicking on the name of a probe takes you through to the probe page.

Information about compounds

Probe pages have expert commentary on the probe, comments from our expert panel, as well as key information about its characterisation and use, including the recommended concentration for use in cells and recommended dosage for model organisms.

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Information about chemical tools

The chemical probe criteria are guidelines about what to look for when selecting a probe for an experiment. Chemical probes need to be potent, selective, and demonstrate evidence of target engagement in cells. Chemical tool compounds on the Portal include PROTACs and molecular glues, as well as inhibitors, agonists and antagonists.

For further sources of information about chemical probes and their use, see our Key Publications page.

The Information Centre is constantly updated with training materials, new publications and other useful information about the appropriate use of chemical probes and the Portal.