Automated high throughput screening for serine kinase inhibitors using a LEADseeker scintillation proximity assay in the 1536-well format

High-throughput screening in the 1536-well format has been largely restricted to solution-based and cell-based screens. In this article, we show the feasibility of a completely automated, robust scintillation proximity assay in the 1536-well format that is suitable to identify inhibitors for a serine/threonine kinase from a compound library. The introduction of (33)P]phosphate into a biotinylated peptide substrate mirrors the activity of the kinase. The peptide is immobilized on streptavidin-coated LEADseeker imaging beads and (33)P]phosphate incorporation is detected with the LEADseeker imaging system of Amersham Pharmacia Biotech. To improve the liquid handling procedures for imaging bead suspensions in the low microliter range, we developed a novel trough with an integrated stirring function. A comparison of the 1536-well assay to a 384-well assay revealed a comparable assay quality with Z' factors of about 0.7 for the 384-well format and 0.6 for the 1536-well format. In an automated screen of a random compound collection, 94.4% of the inhibitory compounds could be identified with both assay formats. Dose-response curves were performed for a selection of identified kinase inhibitors and revealed similar IC(50) values for both assay formats.