Analysis of Drug Molecules in Living Cells

Cells are the fundamental units of life, comprising a highly concentrated and complex assembly of biomolecules that interact dynamic ally across spatial and temporal scales. Living cells are constantly undergoing dynamic processes, therefore, to understand the interactions between drug molecules and living cells is of paramount importance in the biomedical sciences and pharmaceutical development. Compared with traditional end-point assays and fixed cell analysis, analysis of drug molecules in living cells can provide more insight into the effects of drugs on cells in real-time and allowing for a better understanding of drug mechanisms and effects, which will contribute to the development of drug developing and testing and personalize medicine. However, the high demands of living cell analysis, including high costs, technical complexity, and throughput limitations, hinder the widespread application of this technology. In recent years, the rapid development of analytical methods such as Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence has made the in situ and real-time detection possible, allowing the analysis of single cell or cell populations at various conditions. In this review, we summarize the advanced analytical methods and technologies from last few years for drug detection in living cells.