Cell-based high-throughput screens for the discovery of chemotherapeutic agents

Abstract

Jennifer T. Fox1 1 and Kyungjae Myung1 1 1 Genome Instability Section, Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD Received: April 26, 2012; Accepted: May 29, 2012; Published: May 29, 2012; Keywords: ATAD5-luciferase, genotoxins, DNA repair mutants, cancer, drug discovery Correspondence: Kyungjae Myung, email: // // Abstract With modern advances in robotics and data processing, high-throughput screening (HTS) is playing an increasingly growing role in the drug discovery process. The ultimate success of HTS depends upon the development of assays that are robust and reproducible in miniaturized formats, have low false-positive rates, and can identify drugs that offer improvements over those currently on the market. One example of such an assay is the ATAD5-luciferase HTS assay, which identified three antioxidants that could kill cancer cells without inducing mutagenesis. Here we discuss the ATAD5-luciferase assay and expand upon the value of HTS in identifying other potential cancer drugs, focusing on cell-based assays that involve DNA damage or repair pathways.