High-throughput molecular pathology in human tissues as a method for driving drug discovery

To facilitate prioritization of potential drug targets, gene expression can be localized to individual cell types in normal and diseased tissues. Given the complexity of molecular physiology and pathology, the creation of large-scale molecular pathology databases collating data obtained from human tissues is a challenging marriage of old and new technologies, particularly when considering the many issues that preclude easy access to substantial quantities of human tissues. Molecular pathology databases are powerful tools and are essential for early-stage drug discovery, enabling informed decisions to be made with respect to scientific direction and follow-up research.