scholarly journals Establishing a High-Throughput and Automated Cancer Cell Proliferation Panel for Oncology Lead Optimization

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 1043-1053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Lei ◽  
Humberto Ribeiro ◽  
Garrett Kolodin ◽  
James Gill ◽  
Yu-Sun Wang ◽  
...  

Tumor cell proliferation assays are widely used for oncology drug discovery, including target validation, lead compound identification, and optimization, as well as determination of compound off-target activities. Taking advantage of robotic systems to maintain cell culture and perform cell proliferation assays would greatly increase productivity and efficiency. Here we describe the establishment of automated systems for high-throughput cell proliferation assays in a panel of 13 human tumor cell lines. These cell lines were selected from various types of human tumors containing a broad range of well-characterized mutations in multiple cellular signaling pathways. Standard procedures for cell culture and assay performance were developed and optimized in each cell line. Moreover, in-house developed software (i.e., Toolset, Curvemaster, and Biobars) was applied to analyze the data and generate data reports. Using tool compounds, we have shown that results obtained through this panel exhibit high reproducibility over a long period. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that this panel can be used to identify sensitive and insensitive cell lines for specific cancer targets, to drive cellular structure-activity relationships, and to profile compound off-target activities. All those efforts are important for cancer drug discovery lead optimization.

2021 ◽  
pp. 247255522110383
Author(s):  
Gurmeet Kaur ◽  
David M. Evans ◽  
Beverly A. Teicher ◽  
Nathan P. Coussens

Malignant tumors are complex tissues composed of malignant cells, vascular cells, structural mesenchymal cells including pericytes and carcinoma-associated fibroblasts, infiltrating immune cells, and others, collectively called the tumor stroma. The number of stromal cells in a tumor is often much greater than the number of malignant cells. The physical associations among all these cell types are critical to tumor growth, survival, and response to therapy. Most cell-based screens for cancer drug discovery and precision medicine validation use malignant cells in isolation as monolayers, embedded in a matrix, or as spheroids in suspension. Medium- and high-throughput screening with multiple cell lines requires a scalable, reproducible, robust cell-based assay. Complex spheroids include malignant cells and two normal cell types, human umbilical vein endothelial cells and highly plastic mesenchymal stem cells, which rapidly adapt to the malignant cell microenvironment. The patient-derived pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line, K24384-001-R, was used to explore complex spheroid structure and response to anticancer agents in a 96-well format. We describe the development of the complex spheroid assay as well as the growth and structure of complex spheroids over time. Subsequently, we demonstrate successful assay miniaturization to a 384-well format and robust performance in a high-throughput screen. Implementation of the complex spheroid assay was further demonstrated with 10 well-established pancreatic cell lines. By incorporating both human stromal and tumor components, complex spheroids might provide an improved model for tumor response in vivo.


2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 918-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel G. Hayward ◽  
Yvette Newbatt ◽  
Lisa Pickard ◽  
Eilis Byrne ◽  
Guojie Mao ◽  
...  

Nek2 is a serine/threonine protein kinase that localizes to the centrosome and is implicated in mitotic regulation. Overexpression of Nek2 induces premature centrosome separation and nuclear defects indicative of mitotic errors, whereas depletion of Nek2 interferes with cell growth. As Nek2 expression is upregulated in a range of cancer cell lines and primary human tumors, inhibitors of Nek2 may have therapeutic value in cancer treatment. The authors used a radiometric proximity assay in a high-throughput screen to identify small-molecule inhibitors of Nek2 kinase activity. The assay was based on the measurement of the radiolabeled phosphorylated product of the kinase reaction brought into contact with the surface of wells of solid scintillant-coated microplates. Seventy nonaggregating hits were identified from approximately 73,000 compounds screened and included a number of toxoflavins and a series of viridin/wortmannin-like compounds. The viridin-like compounds were >70-fold selective for Nek2 over Nek6 and Nek7 and inhibited the growth of human tumor cell lines at concentrations consistent with their biochemical potencies. An automated mechanism-based microscopy assay in which centrosomes were visualized using pericentrin antibodies confirmed that 2 of the viridin inhibitors reduced centrosome separation in a human tumor cell line. The data presented show that pharmacological inhibition of Nek2 kinase results in the expected phenotype of disruption to centrosome function associated with growth inhibition and further supports Nek2 as a target for cancer drug discovery.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 800-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Daniele ◽  
R. Halse ◽  
E. Grinyo ◽  
S.J. Yeaman ◽  
P. R. Shepherd

There is an increasing emphasis on the need for high-quality biological data much earlier in the drug-discovery process. This has led to the development of high-throughput approaches to biology, many of which rely on the use of cell-culture models. Unfortunately, available cell-culture models often reflect poorly the characteristics of the tissue they are supposed to represent. However, the conditional-immortalization approach as applied by Xcellsyz offers the possibility of producing human cell lines on demand, which are truly representative of the tissue from which they derive.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 2771
Author(s):  
Anna Richter ◽  
Elisabeth Fischer ◽  
Clemens Holz ◽  
Julia Schulze ◽  
Sandra Lange ◽  
...  

Aberrant PI3K/AKT signaling is a hallmark of acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) resulting in increased tumor cell proliferation and apoptosis deficiency. While previous AKT inhibitors struggled with selectivity, MK-2206 promises meticulous pan-AKT targeting with proven anti-tumor activity. We herein, characterize the effect of MK-2206 on B-ALL cell lines and primary samples and investigate potential synergistic effects with BCL-2 inhibitor venetoclax to overcome limitations in apoptosis induction. MK-2206 incubation reduced AKT phosphorylation and influenced downstream signaling activity. Interestingly, after MK-2206 mono application tumor cell proliferation and metabolic activity were diminished significantly independently of basal AKT phosphorylation. Morphological changes but no induction of apoptosis was detected in the observed cell lines. In contrast, primary samples cultivated in a protective microenvironment showed a decrease in vital cells. Combined MK-2206 and venetoclax incubation resulted in partially synergistic anti-proliferative effects independently of application sequence in SEM and RS4;11 cell lines. Venetoclax-mediated apoptosis was not intensified by addition of MK-2206. Functional assessment of BCL-2 inhibition via Bax translocation assay revealed slightly increased pro-apoptotic signaling after combined MK-2206 and venetoclax incubation. In summary, we demonstrate that the pan-AKT inhibitor MK-2206 potently blocks B-ALL cell proliferation and for the first time characterize the synergistic effect of combined MK-2206 and venetoclax treatment in B-ALL.


2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (9) ◽  
pp. 4377-4386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Bosque ◽  
Stanley B. Prusiner

ABSTRACT Cultured cell lines infected with prions produce an abnormal isoform of the prion protein (PrPSc). In order to derive cell lines producing sufficient quantities of PrPSc for most studies, it has been necessary to subclone infected cultures and select the subclones producing the largest amounts of PrPSc. Since postinfection cloning can introduce differences between infected and uninfected cell lines, we sought an approach to generate prion-infected cell lines that would avoid clonal artifacts. Using an improved cell blot technique, which permits sensitive and rapid comparison of PrPSc levels in multiple independent cell cultures, we discovered marked heterogeneity with regard to prion susceptibility in tumor cell sublines. We exploited this heterogeneity to derive sublines which are highly susceptible to prion infection and used these cells to generate prion-infected lines without further subcloning. These infected sublines can be compared to the cognate uninfected cultures without interference from cloning artifacts. We also used susceptible cell lines and our modified cell blot procedure to develop a sensitive and reproducible quantitative cell culture bioassay for prions. We found that the sublines were at least 100-fold more susceptible to strain RML prions than to strain ME7 prions. Comparisons between scrapie-susceptible and -resistant cell lines may reveal factors that modulate prion propagation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1300800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilina Krasteva ◽  
Maya Yotova ◽  
Kristina Jenett-Siems ◽  
Petranka Zdraveva ◽  
Stefan Nikolov

A new sulfated triterpeniod saponin, 3- O-sulfooleanolic acid 28- O-[ β-glucopyranosyl-(1→3)]-[ β-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)]- β-glucopyranosyl ester (1), along with three known Δ7-sterols: stigmast-7-en-3 β-ol (2), stigmast-7-en-3- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3) and stigmast-7-en-3-on (4) were isolated from the roots of Gypsophila trichotoma Wend. (Caryophyllaceae). Their structures were elucidated by chemical and spectral methods. Compound 1 caused concentration-dependent inhibition of malignant cell proliferation against different human tumor cell lines.


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