Recent advances in high-throughput flow cytometry for drug discovery

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Pharmacology
• Immunology

Background:

• High-throughput flow cytometry (HTFC) is crucial for drug discovery, enabling multi-parametric screening.
• It analyzes heterogeneous cell populations and coated particles for identifying proteins of interest.
• HTFC screens have successfully identified novel targets, cell markers, and compound clusters for drug development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent high-throughput flow cytometry applications in drug discovery over the last 5-6 years.
• To discuss HTFC system developments and automated sample preparation for enhanced screening.
• To highlight HTFC's utility in immune, immune-oncology, infectious, and inflammatory diseases.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent scientific literature on HTFC applications.
• Discussion of advancements in HTFC system technology.
• Analysis of automated sample preparation techniques for HTFC.

Main Results:

• HTFC facilitates large-scale compound screening using suspension cells.
• It enables the screening of disease-relevant human primary cells.
• Advanced HTFC provides deep mechanistic insights through multi-parametric analysis.

Conclusions:

• High-throughput flow cytometry is a valuable tool for drug discovery and development.
• Its utility is particularly significant in immune, immune-oncology, infectious, and inflammatory diseases.
• Automated sample acquisition and preparation enhance HTFC's efficiency and scope.