Microwell bioreactor system for cell-based high throughput proliferation and cytotoxicity assays

Cell-based high throughput proliferation and cytotoxicity assays are increasingly used in drug screening and bioprocess development. However, online monitoring of cell proliferation, pH, and dissolved oxygen (DO) has been a challenge in 3D cell-based assays. In this work, a 40-microwell bioreactor (40-MBR) system was developed from a 384-well plate for real-time, noninvasive monitoring of pH, DO, and cell proliferation in 3D microenvironments. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) and MCF-07 breast cancer cells cultured in 40-MBR confirmed that the 40-MBR was capable of simultaneously monitoring DO and cell proliferation based on culture fluorescence and pH by measuring the absorbance of phenol red. Cytotoxicity studies of sodium butyrate on CHO cells demonstrated that 40-MBR with dynamic background fluorescence correction gave more reliable and highly reproducible growth kinetic data compared to conventional multiwells with static background correction. Furthermore, the dosage effects of two new anticancer drug candidates, 5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-8-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran-4-one (DH-8P-DB) and 5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-6-[(E)-2-phenylethenyl]-3,4-dihydro-2H-1-benzopyran-4-one (DH-6P-DB), on HT-29 colon cancer cells were assessed using the 40-MBR, and the results indicated that DH-6P-DB would be a more potent drug in treating colon cancer than DH-8P-DB. These studies demonstrated that 40-MBR could serve as a high throughput platform for screening potential cancer drugs in early-stage drug discovery.     

Fluorescence polarization assays for high throughput screening of G protein-coupled receptors

Fluorescence polarization assays in 384-well microtiter plates have been demonstrated. The performance is suitable for high throughput drug screening applications with respect to speed of analysis, displaceable signal, precision, and sensitivity to various reagents. Rank order of potency was maintained relative to [(125)I]-ligand filtration assays, and the effects of the highly colored compounds, tartrazine and Chicago Sky Blue, were insignificant on the polarization signal up to a concentration of 1 microM. These attributes suggest that accurate assessment of drug binding can be obtained.     

Novel fluorescent technology platform for high throughput cytotoxicity and proliferation assays

We have developed a novel fluorescent Oxygen BioSensor technology platform adaptable to many applications in the area of drug discovery and development, particularly cell-based assays. This biosensor technology requires no additional reagents or incubations, and affords continuous real-time readout of dissolved oxygen concentrations. Since the level of oxygen dissolved in an assay's medium correlates to the number and viability of the cells in the medium, this technology is ideally suited for monitoring cell viability, proliferation, or death. The technology is particularly well suited to investigating cells' kinetic responses to proliferative or toxic stimuli, such as drugs. When incorporated into a 96- or 384-well microplate format, it is compatible with standard laboratory automation systems. Here we present data illustrating the application of the Oxygen BioSensor technology for rapid, homogeneous detection and evaluation of metabolic activity of a variety of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells, including mammalian cells, insect cells, yeast, and bacteria. In the absence of toxic substances, we find a good correlation between cell number and signal over a wide range of cell concentrations and growth times. To evaluate the usefulness of the Oxygen BioSensor for cytotoxicity assays, we have performed a series of experiments using a range of toxic agents and cell types, including both bacteria and mammalian cell lines. In a side-by-side comparison to standard MTT assays using HL60 cells, comparable IC(50) values were found with the Oxygen BioSensor for five different toxins or drugs. This assay method does not have the need for additional reagents, handling steps, or incubation periods required by the MTT assays.     

A bioluminescent sensor for high throughput toxicity classification

A high throughput toxicity monitoring and classification biosensor system has been successfully developed using four immobilized bioluminescent Escherichia coli strains, DPD2511, DPD2540, DPD2794 and TV1061, which have plasmids bearing a fusion of a specific promoter to the luxCDABE operon. The bioluminescence of DPD2511 increases in the presence of oxidative damage, DPD2540 by membrane damage, DPD2794 by DNA damage and TV1061 by protein damage. In the developed biosensor these strains are immobilized in a single 96 well plate using an LB-agar matrix, and are able to detect the toxicities of hydrogen peroxide, phenol and mitomycin C in water samples. As the concentration of each chemical was increased, the bioluminescence levels from the corresponding wells, containing either DPD2511, DPD2540, DPD2794 or TV1061, increased. This increase in bioluminescence followed a dose dependent response to the toxic chemicals within a specific concentration range. In particular, each test requires only 4 h to give clear bioluminescent response signature. Storage of the biosensor at 4 degrees C for 2 weeks caused no change in its dose-dependent response. The fast and easy detection of oxidative, membrane, protein and DNA damaging agents in aqueous environments is possible due to the high throughput capability of this biosensor.     

A high throughput profiling method for cutinolytic esterases

A procedure for identifying and profiling cutinolytic esterases was developed by combining traditional plate screen assays with an automated robotic system. In the first phase, the micro-organisms were screened on agar plates with cutin or the model substrate polycaprolactone as the sole carbon sources. In the second phase, p-nitrophenyl esters of fatty acids were used as the substrates in an automated activity assay of liquid culture media. The variables used were pH and the carbon chain length of the fatty acid moiety of the p-nitrophenyl substrate. Finally, ³H-labelled cutin was used as a specific substrate to verify the positive hits and to validate the screening procedure. With pH as the variable in the automatic screen, esterase production of cutinase positive strains typically proceeded in two stages: first an esterase with neutral activity optimum was produced, after which a strong esterolytic response in the alkaline range was detected. With carbon chain length of the fatty acid as the variable best correlation with cutinase production was obtained with strains showing a high ratio of activities towards p-nitrophenyl-butyrate and p-nitrophenyl-palmitate.     

Impact of a red-shifted dye label for high throughput fluorescence polarization assays of G protein-coupled receptors

High throughput screening fluorescence polarization assays using G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) as targets have been compared using fluorescein and BODIPY TMR-labeled peptides. The red-shifted BODIPY TMR dye exhibits improved assay performance relative to fluorescein due to improvement in both ligand affinity to the GPCRs and assay precision brought about by the higher intensity probe. Furthermore, the red-shifted dye demonstrates an insensitivity to the effects of the highly colored compound tartrazine, which can produce false-negative results for assays conducted with fluorescein as a label.     

Src homology 2 domain-based high throughput assays for profiling downstream molecules in receptor tyrosine kinase pathways

Src homology 2 (SH2) domains are evolutionary conserved small protein modules that bind specifically to tyrosine-phosphorylated peptides. More than 100 SH2 domains have been identified in proteins encoded by the human genome. The binding specificity of these domains plays a critical role in signaling within the cell, mediating the relocalization and interaction of proteins in response to changes in tyrosine phosphorylation states. Here we developed an SH2 domain profiling method based on a multiplexed fluorescent microsphere assay in which various SH2 domains are used to probe the global state of tyrosine phosphorylation within a cell and to screen synthetic peptides that specifically bind to each SH2 domain. The multiplexed, fluorescent microsphere-based assay is a recently developed technology that can potentially detect a wide variety of interactions between biological molecules. We constructed 25-plex SH2 domain-GST fusion protein-conjugated fluorescent microsphere sets to investigate phosphorylation-mediated cell signaling through the specific binding of SH2 domains to activated target proteins. The response of HeLa, COS-1, A431, and 293 cells and four breast cancer cell lines to epidermal growth factor and insulin were quantitatively profiled using this novel microsphere-based, multiplexed, high throughput assay system.     

An integrated system for high throughput TaqMan based SNP genotyping.

We have developed an integrated laboratory information system that allows the flexible handling of pedigree, phenotype and genotype information. Specifically, it includes client applications for an integrated data import from TaqMan typing files, Mendel checking, data export, handling of pedigree and phenotype information and analysis features. AVAILABILITY: The SQL source code, sources and binaries of the client applications (NT and Windows95/98 platforms) and additional documentation are available at http://www.mucosa.de/.     

A high throughput method for genome-wide analysis of retroviral integration

Retroviral and lentiviral vectors integrate their DNA into the host cell genome leading to stable transgene expression. Integration preferentially occurs in the proximity of active genes, and may in some case disturb their activity, with adverse toxic consequences. To efficiently analyze high numbers of lentiviral insertion sites in the DNA of transduced cells, we developed an improved high-throughput method called vector integration tag analysis (VITA). VITA is based on the identification of Genomic Tags associated to the insertion sites, which are used as signatures of the integration events. We use the capacity of MmeI to cleave DNA at a defined distance of its recognition site, in order to generate 21 bp long tags from libraries of junction fragments between vector and cellular DNA. The length of the tags is sufficient in most cases, to identify without ambiguity an unique position in the human genome. Concatenation, cloning and sequencing of the tags allow to obtain information about 20–25 insertion sites in a single sequencing reaction. As a validation of this method, we have characterized 1349 different lentiviral vector insertion sites in transduced HeLa cells, from only 487 sequencing reactions, with a background of <2% false positive tags.     

A set of UV-inducible autolytic vectors for high throughput screening

A high throughput screening scheme is often a prerequisite for directed evolution of enzymes or metagenomic analysis of DNA samples. For assaying intracellular enzymes of interest (e.g. when Escherichia coli is used), it requires cell lysis in many cases, chemical or enzymatic, which can be tedious and cost-consuming. In this study, a set of UV-inducible autolytic vectors was constructed to offer a simpler means of cell lysis that is free of additional liquid handling. The SRRz lysis gene cassette from bacteriophage Lambda was cloned downstream of a UV-inducible promoter, the recA promoter or the umuDC promoter, and further inserted into the backbone of pUC18, and transformed into E. coli BL21 cells. The SRRz expression and cell lysis was induced by UV irradiation. For both the recA and umuDC promoters, at 30 degrees C the lysis efficiency was found to be consistent and above 60% as measured using beta-galactosidase as the reporter. However, at 37 degrees C the lysis profiles were found to be erratic. UV lysis in 96-well plates also produced consistent lysis results that were comparable to those obtained by lysozyme treatment, demonstrating the utility of these autolytic vectors in high throughput screening. This set of artificial SRRz autolysis units should be transferable to other vectors. Surprisingly, it was found that the E. coli BL21(DE3) was also partially disrupted under UV irradiation, with a lysis efficiency of 44.5% at 30 degrees C, and 22.5% at 37 degrees C.     

Linking solubility and permeability assays for maximum throughput and reproducibility

Solubility and permeability are intimately linked in drug absorption processes. They have, however, been traditionally assayed separately. To support this linkage, a combined solubility/permeability assay was developed for determining absorption properties of chemical entities. First, solubility is determined at 4 pH values by comparing the concentration of a saturated compound solution to its dilute, known concentration. The filtered, saturated solution from the solubility assay is then used as input material for the membrane permeability determination. The permeability assay is a parallel artificial membrane technique whereby a membrane is created on a solid support parallel artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA). The 2 artificial membranes presented here model the gastrointestinal tract and the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Data are presented for control compounds, which are well documented in the literature and exemplify a range of solubility and membrane permeability. The advantages of the combination method are 1) reduction of sample usage and preparation time, 2) elimination of interference from compound precipitation in membrane permeability determination, 3) maximization of input concentration to permeability assay for improved reproducibility, and 4) optimization of sample tracking by streamlining data entry and calculations. BBB permeability ranking of compounds correlates well with literature CNS activity.     

A high throughput mechanical screening device for cartilage tissue engineering

Articular cartilage enables efficient and near-frictionless load transmission, but suffers from poor inherent healing capacity. As such, cartilage tissue engineering strategies have focused on mimicking both compositional and mechanical properties of native tissue in order to provide effective repair materials for the treatment of damaged or degenerated joint surfaces. However, given the large number design parameters available (e.g. cell sources, scaffold designs, and growth factors), it is difficult to conduct combinatorial experiments of engineered cartilage. This is particularly exacerbated when mechanical properties are a primary outcome, given the long time required for testing of individual samples. High throughput screening is utilized widely in the pharmaceutical industry to rapidly and cost-effectively assess the effects of thousands of compounds for therapeutic discovery. Here we adapted this approach to develop a high throughput mechanical screening (HTMS) system capable of measuring the mechanical properties of up to 48 materials simultaneously. The HTMS device was validated by testing various biomaterials and engineered cartilage constructs and by comparing the HTMS results to those derived from conventional single sample compression tests. Further evaluation showed that the HTMS system was capable of distinguishing and identifying ‘hits’, or factors that influence the degree of tissue maturation. Future iterations of this device will focus on reducing data variability, increasing force sensitivity and range, as well as scaling-up to even larger (96-well) formats. This HTMS device provides a novel tool for cartilage tissue engineering, freeing experimental design from the limitations of mechanical testing throughput.     

A nonradioactive,high throughput assay for chitin synthase activity

Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) binds with high affinity and specificity to several sites on chitin polymers. Based on these properties we have modified and adapted a previously patented (U.S. patent 5,888,757) nonradioactive, high throughput screening assay for antimicrobial agents, making it suitable as a quantitative enzymatic assay for the activity of individual chitin synthase isozymes in yeast. The procedure involves binding of synthesized chitin to a WGA-coated surface followed by detection of the polymer with a horseradish peroxidase-WGA conjugate. Horseradish peroxidase activity is then determined as an increment in absorbance at 600 nm. Absorbance values are converted to amounts of chitin using acid-solubilized chitin as a standard. The high sensitivity (lower limit of detection about 50 ng chitin), low dispersion (lower than 10%), and high throughput (96-well microtiter plate format) make this assay an excellent substitute for the conventional radioactive chitin synthase assay in cell-free extracts. We have applied this method to the differential assay of chitin synthase activities (Chs1, Chs2, and Chs3) in cell-free extracts of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Analysis of Chs3 activity in chitosomal and plasma membrane fractions revealed that Chs3 in the plasma membrane fraction is about sixfold more active than in the chitosome.     

A reproducible, high throughput method for fabricating fibrin gels

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Fibrin gels are a promising biomaterial for tissue engineering. However, current fabrication methods are time intensive with inherent variation. There is a pressing need to develop new and consistent approaches for producing fibrin-based hydrogels for examination. RESULTS: We developed a high throughput method for creating fibrin gels using molds fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Fibrin gels were produced by adding solutions of fibrinogen and thrombin to cylindrical defects in a PDMS sheet. Undisturbed gels were collected by removing the sheet, and fibrin gels were characterized. The characteristics of resulting gels were compared to published data by measuring compressive stiffness and osteogenic response of entrapped human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Gels exhibited compressive moduli nearly identical to our previously reported fabrication method. Trends in alkaline phosphatase activity, an early marker of osteogenic differentiation in MSCs, were also consistent with previous data. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate a streamlined approach to fibrin gel production that drastically reduces the time required to make fibrin gels, while also reducing variability between gel batches. This fabrication technique provides a valuable tool for generating large numbers of gels in a cost-effective manner.     

药物筛选新方法--高通量筛选

介绍了高通量筛选的概念、原理及其各个组成部分,着重阐明了高通量筛选的筛选模式,检测方法和应用实例,并简单介绍了国内在这方面的研究进展。