Leveraging Automation toward Development of a High-Throughput Gene Expression Profiling Platform.

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Genomics
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Conventional one-step quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) assays are effective for assessing compound efficacy but are not suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) due to cost and manual limitations.
• Drug discovery requires efficient methods for analyzing gene expression in a time-sensitive manner.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an automated gene expression platform for high-throughput analysis in drug discovery.
• To enable quantitative genotypic profiling in immunology and oncology therapeutic areas.

Main Methods:

• Development of an automated gene expression platform.
• Implementation of in-house lysis conditions compatible with various cell lines, including primary T cells.
• Integration of the platform to support HTS, lead identification, and lead optimization.

Main Results:

• Successful establishment of an automated gene expression platform.
• Demonstrated capability to study diverse cell lines, including primary T cells.
• Enabled a panel screening strategy connecting different stages of drug discovery.

Conclusions:

• The automated platform overcomes limitations of conventional qRT-PCR for HTS.
• This innovation supports quantitative studies in drug discovery programs for immunology and oncology.
• The platform facilitates efficient parallel screening and optimization of drug candidates.