Screening Asia Agenda

Registration

Target-mechanism based whole cell screen for mycobacterial proteome disruptors
Thomas Dick, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Coffee Break and Networking in Exhibition Area

High Content Assays Measuring Human Brain Pericyte Biology
Mike Dragunow, Professor of Pharmacology, Auckland University, New Zealand

Brain pericytes are perivascular cells thought to play diverse roles in brain physiology and pathology including regulating blood-brain barrier integrity and brain capillary function, and acting as neural stem cells. Pericytes have been implicated in BBB leakage, neuroinflammation and scar formation, suggesting that they are important targets for the development of CNS acting drugs. We have developed high content assays to measure various features of human brain pericytes for drug screening purposes to identify novel molecules regulating pericyte function.

Phenotypic Screening of Cellular Organelle Function
Robin Ketteler, Group Leader/Manager, University College London, United Kingdom

I will present an overview of two phenotypic screens that study cell biology processes in a large-scale screening setup. First, I will present our results on screening for modulators of autophagy comparing a luciferase-based and an image-based assay. Next, I will discuss data from our high-content analysis of secretory granule function in endothelial cells.

Lunch Break and Poster Session

3D Model Systems
John Watson, Director, Promega Corporation, United States of America

Scaffold- and Spheroid-based 3D Cell Culture Methods for Applications in Oncology and Toxicology
Joy Hu, Technical Specialist, BioTek Instruments (Taiwan), Ltd., Taiwan

Automated methods for the preparation and execution of 3D cell culture methods using both scaffold- and spheroid-based methods will be presented. Case studies in oncology and toxicology will be used as examples.

Coffee Break and Networking in Exhibition Area

Translational, robust 3D model systems for efficacy screening
Jan Lichtenberg, CEO and Co-Founder, InSphero AG, Switzerland

Two key parameters assure high-quality screening data: valuable biological content and robust statistical relevance. While three-dimensional (3D) cell models are widely recognized for their high level of organotypic morphology and functionality, well-to-well and batch-to-batch variations have been an obstacle in the past to translate this technology into standard screening processes. In this presentation we illustrate how scaffold-free 3D microtissues obtained by an automated hanging-drop method yield highly uniform and organotypic cell models for screening in oncology and diabetes research.

Developing novel three dimensional cell culture platform for different testing purposes towards investigative biology
Giridharan Periyasamy, Manager, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore

Tour of the GIS High-throughput Cell Biology Centre (GIS-HTCB)

End of Day One

Registration

Monitoring Adenine Nucleotide levels to assess cellular metabolic changes in response to environmental insults and altered metabolic status
Said Goueli, Senior Research Fellow, Promega Corporation, United States of America

Coffee Break and Networking in Exhibition Area

A kinase feedback loop controls RAS-driven, autophagy-dependent cancers
Jit Kong Cheong , Instructor , Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School , Singapore

Triphenylphosphonium analogs of the MET kinase inhibitor PHA 665752 : An approach to the targeting of mitochondrial MET in lung cancer cell lines
Mei Lin Go, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Lunch Break and Poster Session

Discovery and validation of small molecules interfering with the BCL-2 driven apoptotic pathway
Guillaume Lessene, Associate Professor, The Walter And Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Australia

Inhibitors for SMYD3, an epigenetic drug target
Joma Joy, Group Leader, Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), Singapore

Coffee Break and Networking in Exhibition Area

PANEL DISCUSSION - Pros and Cons - CRISPR vs. RNAi / Is CRISPR going to wipe out RNAi? / 2D vs. 3D - What is the best model? / Cell-Based Assays vs. Cell-Free Assays

Closing Reception