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Updated: May 19, 2026

Drug-induced Sensitization of Adenylyl Cyclase: Assay Streamlining and Miniaturization for Small Molecule and siRNA Screening Applications
Published on: January 27, 2014
Towards the miniaturization of GPCR-based live-cell screening assays
Sofia A M Martins1, João R C Trabuco, Gabriel A Monteiro
1IBB-Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre for Biological and Chemical Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal.
Abstract:
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play a key role in many physiological or disease-related processes and for this reason are favorite targets of the pharmaceutical industry. Although ~30% of marketed drugs target GPCRs, their potential remains largely untapped. The discovery of new leads calls for the screening of thousands of compounds with high-throughput cell-based assays. Although microtiter plate-based high-throughput screening platforms are well established, microarray and microfluidic technologies hold potential for miniaturization, automation, and biosensor integration that may well redefine the format of GPCR screening assays. This paper reviews the latest research efforts directed to bringing microarray and microfluidic technologies into the realm of GPCR-based, live-cell screening assays.

