Automated imaging and other developments in whole-organism anthelmintic screening

Area of Science:

• Parasitology
• Drug Discovery
• High-Throughput Screening

Background:

• Helminth infections are a major global health issue, particularly in developing nations.
• Current control relies on mass drug administration, but drug resistance and poor efficacy necessitate new anthelmintics.
• Traditional drug discovery relies on in vivo screening, which is being complemented by in vitro methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the progress of whole-organism screens using in vitro activity against helminths.
• To highlight the development of automated, image-based readouts for high-throughput screening (HTS).
• To discuss the potential of these automated methods in invigorating the anthelmintic drug discovery pipeline.

Main Methods:

• Focus on in vitro screening assays using adult or larval helminth stages.
• Discuss the limitations of manual visualization in current in vitro assays (subjectivity, labor, time).
• Highlight the application of automated readouts, specifically high-content imaging, integrated into robotic HTS platforms.

Main Results:

• Automated image-based readouts offer a solution to the challenges of manual in vitro screening.
• Robotic HTS platforms with automated imaging enable the screening of large compound libraries against helminths.
• This technological advancement facilitates the discovery of new anthelmintic compounds.

Conclusions:

• Automated, image-based whole-organism screening is a promising approach for novel helminth drug discovery.
• This method significantly enhances the efficiency and scalability of screening efforts.
• It represents a crucial step forward in addressing the urgent need for new anthelmintics.