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Development of a high throughput drug screening assay for the detection of changes in tau levels -- proof of concept with HSP90 inhibitors.

Therapeutic development for Alzheimer's disease has largely focused on the removal of beta amyloid because of its suggested role in the primary agent in initiating the disease process. However, with the recent discovery of mutations that result as pathologic buildup of tau in the absence of amyloid pathology, tau is beginning to be recognized as a potential target for drug discovery. We have developed a high-throughput drug screening method that allows for direct intracellular quantitation of tau protein species, enabling the fast, reliable detection of these changes. We have identified a family of small, blood brain barrier penetrant heat shock protein 90 inhibitors that significantly reduce tau protein levels in vitro. Western blot analysis demonstrated a clear inverse correlation between the tau levels and the increase in HSP27, HSP40 and HSP90. Modifications to this assay will further allow the specific analysis of pathologically relevant species. Using this assay, we have demonstrated that a class of HSP90 inhibitors is able to significantly lower intracellular tau levels most likely through induction of a heat shock response.

Cell Line, Tumor↗

High throughput metabolic stability screen for lead optimization in drug discovery.

A high throughput approach for the determination of in vitro metabolic stability and metabolic profiles of drug candidates has been developed. This approach comprises the combination of a Biomek FX liquid handling system with 96-channel pipetting capability and a custom-designed 96-well format on-line incubator with efficient thermal conductivity. This combination facilitates automated reagent preparation, sample incubation, and sample purification for microsome stability studies. The overall process is both fast and accurate and meets the challenges of high throughput screening for drug discovery. A custom designed, user-friendly computer program has been incorporated for large-scale data processing and report generation. Several applications are discussed that implement this strategy for rapid selection of compounds in early drug discovery.

Animals↗

Development of a homogeneous binding assay for histamine receptors.

Histamine is critically involved in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes through its actions at different receptors. Thus, histamine receptors have been actively pursued as therapeutic targets in the pharmaceutical industry for the treatment of a variety of diseases. There are currently four histamine receptors that have been cloned, all of which are G protein-coupled receptors. Studies from both academia and pharmaceutical companies have identified compounds that modulate the function of specific histamine receptors. These efforts led to the successful introduction of histamine H(1) and H(2) receptor antagonists for the treatment of allergy and excess gastric acid secretion, respectively. Histamine H(3) receptor ligands are currently under investigation for the treatment of obesity and neurological disorders. The recently identified histamine H(4) receptor is preferentially expressed in the immune tissues, suggesting a potential role in normal immune functions and possibly in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. Even with the long history of histamine research and the important applications of histamine receptor ligands, assays to measure the affinity of compounds binding to histamine receptors are still routinely analyzed using a filtration assay, a very low-throughput assay involving washing and filtration steps. This article describes a simple, robust, and homogeneous binding assay based on the scintillation proximity assay (SPA) technology that provides results equivalent to those obtained using the more complex filtration assay. The SPA format is easily adapted to high-throughput screening because it is amenable to automation. In summary, this technique allows high-throughput screening of compounds against multiple histamine receptors and, thus, facilitates drug discovery efforts.

Animals↗

A novel histone deacetylase inhibitor identified by high-throughput transcriptional screening of a compound library.

Libraries of compounds are increasingly becoming commercially available for the use of individual academic laboratories. A high-throughput system based on a stably integrated transcriptional reporter was used to screen a library of random compounds to identify agents that conferred robust augmentation of a signal transduction pathway. A novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, termed scriptaid, conferred the greatest effect, a 12- to 18-fold augmentation. This facilitation of transcriptional events was generally applicable to exogenous gene constructs, including viral and cellular promoters, different cell lines and reporter genes, and stably integrated and transiently introduced sequences. Scriptaid did not interfere with a further induction provided by stimulation of the cognate signal transduction pathway (transforming growth factor beta/Smad4), which implied the functional independence of ligand-stimulated transcriptional activation and histone acetylation states in this system. Additional insights into this and other signal transduction systems are likely to be afforded through the application of compound screening technologies.

Cell Survival↗

Rapid screening for high-titer retroviral packaging cell lines using an in situ fluorescence assay.

The production of high-titer recombinant retrovirus is a major determinant of the efficiency of target cell transduction. Titer assessment for producer clones that contain vectors encoding proteins that can be detected using fluorescence is typically performed by flow cytometry. However, this method is both costly and labor intensive, severely limiting the number of clones that can be screened for each construct. In this report we describe a rapid, high-throughput screening method for viral quantitation of producer clone supernatant on target cells using a 96-well format. Plates were assayed using a multichannel fluorescent reader to determine the percentage of target cells expressing green (EGFP), cyan (ECFP), yellow (EYFP) or red (DsRed) fluorescent reporter genes, or their combinations. The relative fluorescence counts of target cells incubated with viral supernatant from each packaging cell clone correlated with the level of transduction, and hence, viral titer. Correlation of cell fluorescence between the fluorescent plate reader assay and flow cytometric assessment was high (r(2) = 0.96). Independent detection of different fluorescent reporters enabled multiplex assays to be performed. Simultaneous cell density analysis using alamarBlue fluorescence was proportional to cell number per well (r(2) = 1.0). In situ titer assessment of 66 FLYRD packaging cells encoding the EGFP reporter gene identified clones (>10(7) colony forming units per milliliter [CFU/ml]) that provided titers up to sevenfold over the parent population. The application of this rapid, high-throughput screening method overcomes many limitations imposed by the current flow cytometric screening method. This robust assay maximizes the chance of identifying rare high-titer packaging clones and offers a further opportunity to optimize gene transfer protocols.

Cell Line↗

High-throughput PCR screening of genes for three-component regulatory system putatively involved in quorum sensing from low-G + C gram-positive bacteria.

Quorum sensing of gram-positive bacteria is often regulated by three-component regulatory system composed of autoinducing peptide, sensor kinase and response regulator. We used PCR to study a gene cassette encoding this three-component regulatory system. Degenerate primers were designed from consensus amino acid sequences in the HPK10 subfamily, mostly involved in quorum sensing. Products amplified from genomic DNA of Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, and Clostridium species were cloned and sequenced; their deduced amino acid sequences were similar to those of members of the HPK10 subfamily. Complete genes for the putative gene cassette were cloned by inverse PCR from L. paracasei E93490 and L. plantarum WCFS6. Phylogenetic analysis grouped the cloned putative HPKs into the HPK10 subfamily. These results indicated the usefulness of this high-throughput gene screening and suggested that the three-component regulatory gene cassette are widely present.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Real-time analysis of enzyme kinetics via micro parallel liquid chromatography.

A generic method for real-time monitoring of enzyme kinetics is described in this paper. This approach enables rapid development of assays for high-throughput screening or reaction monitoring in the linear range of the enzyme kinetic curve. In this paper, we used protein kinase A and kemptide (a well-studied assay system) to demonstrate assay optimization by using micro parallel liquid chromatography. The optimal substrate and enzyme concentrations were determined rapidly and conveniently compared with the traditional methods for determining these parameters. Additionally, the data collected from the same experiment permitted calculations of K (m) for the substrate, V (max), and time-course study. In general, this approach provides two advantages. First, the broad ranges of detectable product conversions facilitate selection and implementation of assay conditions for high-throughput screening. Second, the system permits determination of 50% inhibitory concentration values at less than 1% conversion of substrate to product, thereby validating screening hits in the linear range of the enzyme kinetic curve. Overall, this optimization process can be done in less than 8 h. To demonstrate the ability to monitor a wide range of assay conditions, we varied initial concentrations over eight orders of magnitude within a single experiment. Compared with a classical enzyme kinetics study, this method significantly speeds the target validation process and reduces time associated with assay development and high-throughput screening implementation.

Chromatography, Liquid↗

A 1536-well cAMP assay for Gs- and Gi-coupled receptors using enzyme fragmentation complementation.

Guanosine triphosphate binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a large class of pharmaceutical drug targets. With the increasing popularity of functional assays for high throughput screening, there arises an increasing need for robust second messenger assays that reflect GPCR activation and are readily amenable for miniaturization. GPCRs that upon agonist stimulation modulate adenylyl cyclase activity, and, consequently, cellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, via the G protein Gs or Gi, form a subset of therapeutic targets. While there are several cAMP assays currently available, most are not scalable for miniaturization into the 1536-well format employed for automated high throughput screening of large chemical libraries. Here, we describe a cAMP assay based on the enzyme fragmentation complementation (EFC) of beta-galactosidase. In this assay, recombinant cells expressing Gs- or Gi-coupled receptors exhibit robust and reproducible pharmacology for agonists and antagonists, as measured by cAMP levels. Furthermore, the EFC cAMP assay offers sufficient sensitivity to be used with cells expressing endogenous GPCRs. We demonstrate the miniaturization of this assay into a 1536-well format with comparable sensitivity and plate statistics to those of the 384-well assay for both Gs- and Gi-coupled receptors, and its suitability for miniaturized high throughput screening.

Animals↗

2D QSAR consensus prediction for high-throughput virtual screening. An application to COX-2 inhibition modeling and screening of the NCI database.

Using classification (SOM, LVQ, Binary, Decision Tree) and regression algorithms (PLS, BRANN, k-NN, Linear), this paper details the building of eight 2D-QSAR models from a 266 COX-2 inhibitor training set. The predictive performances of these eight models were subsequently compared using an 88 COX-2 inhibitor test set. Each ligand is described by 52 2D descriptors expressed as van der Waals Surface Areas (P_VSA) and its COX-2 binding IC50. One of our best predictive models is the neural network model (BRANN), which is able to select a subset, from the 88 ligand test set, that contains 94% COX-2 active inhibitors (pIC50>7.5) and detects 71% of all the actives. We then introduce a QSAR consensus prediction protocol that is shown to be more predictive than any single QSAR model: our C3 consensus approach is able to select a subset from the 88 ligand test set that contains 94% active inhibitors and 83% of all the actives. The 2D QSAR consensus protocol was finally applied to the high-throughput virtual screening of the NCI database, containing 193,477 organic compounds.

Cyclooxygenase 2↗

Developing the molecular modelling of diffusion in zeolites as a high throughput catalyst screening technique.

Molecular modelling techniques have been used to screen zeolite catalysts for their suitability for organic synthesis. For example, we have used these techniques to study the alkylation of aromatic molecules which are important in the fine-chemical and drug industries. A survey of all such efforts is reviewed in this article. The application of molecular modelling techniques in a systematic manner is an efficient first step in the design of zeolite catalysts. As a qualitative screening tool, molecular graphics is used to visualize how well the reactant and product molecules fit inside the pores of the zeolites. Using a hybrid of several molecular modelling methods, which combines molecular dynamics (MD) and Monte Carlo methods with energy minimization, it is possible to determine the minimum energy locations of the molecules inside the zeolites cages. The minimum energy configurations determined by this hybrid method are taken as a starting point for diffusion of the molecules through the zeolite channels. When a molecule is allowed to diffuse through zeolite channel, the molecule attains some maxima and minima in its diffusion energy profile. From the differences between a maximum and a minimum energy configuration, the diffusion energy barrier for the molecule can be calculated in the zeolites. By comparing the diffusion energy barriers for various isomers of a molecule in different zeolites, it is possible to find out the most suitable zeolite for achieving the required shape-selectivity. In addition, factors influencing the diffusivity of the molecules and consequently the shape selectivity are derived. The list of factors and their relative importance are analysed to derive valuable guidelines to design shape-selective zeolite catalysts for a given reaction. Thus, the ultimate aim of these studies is to develop a high throughput computational screening process for the selection of shape-selective zeolite catalysts for various reactions. The dynamic behaviour of molecules inside the pores of zeolites can be studied using MD methods. Since MD is computationally time consuming, it is more efficient to screen the possible zeolite catalysts by energy minimization methods and then perform MD in specific zeolites. More accurate values of diffusivity of the molecules can be calculated using MD methods, and these values can be correlated with the shape-selectivity observed experimentally and /or derived from diffusion energy barrier calculations.

Catalysis↗

A 96-well dot-blot assay for carbohydrate sulfotransferases.

Here we describe an efficient dot-blot assay for high-throughput screening of two enzymes, heparan sulfate N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (NDST-1) and high-endothelial cell GlcNAc-6-sulfotransferase (HEC-GlcNAc-6-ST). The assay proceeds by transfer of 35S-labeled sulfate from [35S]-3(')-phosphoadenosine-5(')-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to the free amino groups of de-N-sulfated heparin (NDST-1), or the 6-hydroxyl groups of N-acetylglucosamine residues linked to a polyacrylamide scaffold (HEC-GlcNAc-6-ST). The 35S-labeled products are then captured on an appropriate membrane, taking advantage of their polymeric architecture. In one step, 35S-labeled by-products are then eluted from the membrane, leaving spatially separated 35S-labeled product "dots" for subsequent quantification. This assay allows for direct product detection on the membrane, obviating excessive washing and elution steps endemic to other assays. The assay was validated by measuring K(M) values for PAPS and K(I) values for PAP, the product of sulfuryl transfer. The assay method should be useful for inhibitor screens for both enzymes. In addition, the general assay architecture should be readily applicable to high-throughput screens of other carbohydrate sulfotransferases.

Carbohydrate Metabolism↗

ADP-specific sensors enable universal assay of protein kinase activity.

Two molecular sensors that specifically recognize ADP in a background of over 100-fold molar excess of ATP are described. These sensors are nucleic-acid based and comprise a general method for monitoring protein kinase activity. The ADP-aptamer scintillation proximity assay is configured in a single-step, homogeneous format while the allosteric ribozyme (RiboReporter) sensor generates a fluorescent signal upon ADP-dependent ribozyme self-cleavage. Both systems perform well when configured for high-throughput screening and have been used to rediscover a known protein kinase inhibitor in a high-throughput screening format.

Adenosine Diphosphate↗

Chemical and biological integrity in natural products screening.

Due to pressure from combinatorial chemistry and the streamlining of the drug discovery process through automated high-throughput screening technologies, pharmaceutically based natural products programs are under increasing scrutiny. However by taking advantages of technologies originally developed for high-throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry and applying them to processes considered as bottlenecks in classical natural products chemistry (purification, structure elucidation, sample availability) it is our opinion that natural products can still contribute to the effective discovery of novel bioactive and pharmaceutically relevant metabolites. We describe here several such strategies that if universally implemented, will demonstrate i) whether chemical diversity is truly being accessed, ii) that novel metabolites can be formatted in a manner appropriate for modern screening paradigms, and iii) that natural products can be rapidly identified not only for novelty and pharmaceutical relevance but to assess their true biological origin.

Biological Products↗

Characterization and inhibition of SARS-coronavirus main protease.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel human coronavirus (CoV). During the 2003 epidemic, the disease rapidly spread from its origin in southern China to other countries and affected almost 8000 patients, which resulted in about 800 fatalities. A chymotrypsin-like cysteine protease named 3C-like protease (3CLpro) is essential for the life cycle of the SARS-CoV. This main protease is responsible for maturation of functional proteins and represents a key anti-viral target. HPLC and fluorescence-based assays have been used to characterize the protease and to determine the potency of the inhibitors. The fluorogenic method monitoring the increase of fluorescence from the cleavage of a peptide substrate containing an Edans-Dabcyl fluorescence quenching pair at two ends has enabled the use of high throughput screening to speed up the drug discovery process. Several groups of inhibitors have been identified through high throughput screening and rational drug design approaches. Thus, alpha,beta-unsaturated peptidomimetics, anilides, metal-conjugated compounds, boronic acids, quinolinecarboxylate derivatives, thiophenecarboxylates, phthalhydrazide-substituted ketoglutamine analogues, isatin and natural products have been identified as potent inhibitors of the SARS-CoV main protease. The different classes of inhibitors reported in these studies are summarized in this review. Some of these inhibitors could be developed into potential drug candidates, which may provide a solution to combat possible reoccurrence of the SARS and other life-threatening viruses with 3CL proteases.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Use of recursion forests in the sequential screening process: consensus selection by multiple recursion trees.

The application of Cheminformatics to High-Throughput Screening (HTS) data requires the use of robust modeling methods. Robust models must be able to accommodate false positive and false negative data yet retain good explanatory and predictive power. Recursive Partitioning has been shown to accommodate false positive and false negative data in the model building phase but suffers from a high false positive rate in the prediction phase, especially with sparse data sets such as HTS data. Here, we introduce Consensus Selection as a procedure to decrease the false positive rate of Recursive Partitioning-based models. Consensus Selection by Multiple Recursion Trees can increase the hit rate of a High-Throughput Screen in excess of 30-fold while significantly reducing the false positive rate relative to single Recursion Tree models.

Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques↗

A human cDNA library for high-throughput protein expression screening.

We have constructed a human fetal brain cDNA library in an Escherichia coli expression vector for high-throughput screening of recombinant human proteins. Using robot technology, the library was arrayed in microtiter plates and gridded onto high-density filter membranes. Putative expression clones were detected on the filters using an antibody against the N-terminal sequence RGS-His(6) of fusion proteins. Positive clones were rearrayed into a new sublibrary, and 96 randomly chosen clones were analyzed. Expression products were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, affinity purification, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry, and the determined protein masses were compared to masses predicted from DNA sequencing data. It was found that 66% of these clones contained inserts in a correct reading frame. Sixty-four percent of the correct reading frame clones comprised the complete coding sequence of a human protein. High-throughput microtiter plate methods were developed for protein expression, extraction, purification, and mass spectrometric analyses. An enzyme assay for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity in native extracts was adapted to the microtiter plate format. Our data indicate that high-throughput screening of an arrayed protein expression library is an economical way of generating large numbers of clones producing recombinant human proteins for structural and functional analyses.

Algorithms↗

TaqMan 5'-nuclease human immunodeficiency virus type 1 PCR assay with phage-packaged competitive internal control for high-throughput blood donor screening.

Screening of blood donors for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection by PCR permits the earlier diagnosis of HIV-1 infection compared with that by serologic assays. We have established a high-throughput reverse transcription (RT)-PCR assay based on 5'-nuclease PCR. By in-tube detection of HIV-1 RNA with a fluorogenic probe, the 5'-nuclease PCR technology (TaqMan PCR) eliminates the risk of carryover contamination, a major problem in PCR testing. We outline the development and evaluation of the PCR assay from a technical point of view. A one-step RT-PCR that targets the gag genes of all known HIV-1 group M isolates was developed. An internal control RNA detectable with a heterologous 5'-nuclease probe was derived from the viral target cDNA and was packaged into MS2 coliphages (Armored RNA). Because the RNA was protected against digestion with RNase, it could be spiked into patient plasma to control the complete sample preparation and amplification process. The assay detected 831 HIV-1 type B genome equivalents per ml of native plasma (95% confidence interval [CI], 759 to 936 HIV-1 B genome equivalents per ml) with a >or=95% probability of a positive result, as determined by probit regression analysis. A detection limit of 1,195 genome equivalents per ml of (individual) donor plasma (95% CI, 1,014 to 1,470 genome equivalents per ml of plasma pooled from individuals) was achieved when 96 samples were pooled and enriched by centrifugation. Up to 4,000 plasma samples per PCR run were tested in a 3-month trial period. Although data from the present pilot feasibility study will have to be complemented by a large clinical validation study, the assay is a promising approach to the high-throughput screening of blood donors and is the first noncommercial test for high-throughput screening for HIV-1.

Blood Donors↗

A homogeneous cell-based assay to identify N-linked carbohydrate processing inhibitors.

Malignant transformation is accompanied by altered cell surface glycosylation. N-Linked oligosaccharides carrying beta1-6GlcNAc branches are associated with tumor invasion and metastasis. Therefore, compounds that can enter cells and block biosynthesis of beta1-6GlcNAc-branched glycans without overt cytotoxicity are potential anticancer agents. We have developed a homogeneous cell-based assay for detection of such compounds. The method enables identification of agents that block beta1-6GlcNAc-branched glycan expression after incubation for 16-20 h with MDAY-D2 tumor cells, thereby protecting the cells from the subsequent addition of leukoagglutinin, a cytotoxic plant lectin. We observed that MDAY-D2 cell number is directly proportional to the level of endogenous alkaline phosphatase activity measured spectrophotometrically in cultures after the addition of substrate. The alkaline phosphatase assay was capable of detecting as few as 1,500 cells. The assay was readily adapted for high-throughput screening as reagent costs are low and no cell harvesting and washing steps are required. Under high-throughput operating conditions, the coefficient of variation for controls was found to be 4.2%. The results suggest that measurement of alkaline phosphatase in this cell assay format may be adapted for wider applications in high-throughput screenings for compounds that relieve cells from other growth inhibitors.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗