Abstract

Open Access HTS Technology Platform for Drug Screening and Genome-wide RNAI

Jens Peter von Kries, Head of Screening, FMP Leibniz Institute for Molecular Pharmacology

The Screening Unit of the Leibniz-Institut fuer Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP Berlin) supported by the Max-Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) provides open access and expert support for internal and external research projects towards high-throughput screening technologies and automation. A broad portfolio of detection technologies for screening with purified components, cellular systems or animals like zebrafish or C. elegans is provided. High-Content Screening with automated microscopes (ArrayScan VTi), high-speed kinetic imaging (FLIPR-Tetra System) or label free impedance screening are supported for cellular screens. Several plate readers support fluorescent or luminescent readouts for enzyme or cellular screens. About 60.000 compounds are provided in different libraries containing approved drugs (about 3.000), compounds donated from academic chemists (5.000), and natural products (20.000, Analyticon Discovery, Potsdam). About 35.000 compounds were selected on the basis of frequently occurring substructures within the World Drug Index. Several highlight projects identified drug within our collections, which interfere with orign of human tumors (Wnt inhibitors), with Met induced metastasis (Shp2 inhibitors), with viral uptake by endocytosis or with failure of heart development in zebrafish. Beside drug screening the Unit also supports genome-wide RNA-interference with libraries from human and mouse genomes. With this libraries we recently supported the identification of the gene for the volume-regulated ion-channel VRAC (Voss et al. 2014, Science Express) by the laboratory of Thomas Jentsch, which has been searched for since more than 10 years.