Molecular Devices | Visikol

Cell Painting – Molecular Imaging in Drug Discovery

Griffin Ferrara — Tue, 06 Apr 2021 18:12:40 +0000

Drug discovery is the process by which potential new medicines are identified, repurposed and/or designed. This involves a wide range of scientific disciplines including, but not limited to, biology, chemistry, and pharmacology. With the latest developments in the fields of medicine and biotechnology, there is a growing need to develop advanced imaging methods, to identify the effect of drugs on cells with precision and accuracy. Molecular imaging involves noninvasive visualization, characterization and quantification of molecular and biochemical events that occur at the cellular or subcellular levels after drug treatment. By exploiting specific molecular probes/stains as well as intrinsic tissue characteristics, this approach provides an insight for analyzing earlier detection, disease characterization, and evaluation of treatment at the molecular level.

Cell Painting is a multistep process in which different cellular compartments are “painted” with different fluorescent bioprobes. The reason for applying cell painting is that we can visualize the aggregate expression of these markers and evaluate through high content imaging how the phenotype of these markers changes as a response to treatment. At Visikol, we have developed methods to visualize these molecular changes at the cellular level by Cell Painting¹ after the drug treatment. For example, untreated/treated cells are stained with different fluorescent bioprobes (e.g., stains/dyes for plasma membrane, mitochondria, cytoskeleton, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, nucleus etc.) in live or fixed cells.

When we leverage cell painting we use a Molecular Devices ImageXpress high content confocal imager to visualize our samples after labeling different cellular compartments. Based on the image analysis of the different cellular compartments (i.e. nucleus, cytoskeleton, etc.) we can quantitively profile multiple phenotypic parameters to better understand the effect of different drugs, chemical compounds, or genes on the cells.

Statistical analysis of this highly dimensional image data allows for clustering of similar phenotypic profiles that may suggest a mechanism or mode of action (MOA) for unknown compounds with reference to compounds of known MOA. Our future perspectives include incorporating high-throughput robotics and automation to seed cells and deliver compounds to microplates, improving high throughput technology in imaging and its computational image processing pipeline by integrating the data generated with AI and machine learning tools. Our approach aids pharmaceutical research in solving drug discovery problems with high specificity and sensitivity with high temporal and spatial resolutions.

If you are interested in utilizing this cell painting approach for your drug discovery projects, please reach out to our team to discuss your project. We are always interested to work together with our Clients to develop customized assays to best suit their needs.

Ref: 1. Bray, M.A., et al., Cell Painting, a high-content image-based assay for morphological profiling using multiplexed fluorescent dyes. Nat Protoc, 2016. 11(9): p. 1757-74.

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Visikol, Corning and Molecular Devices NASH 3D Cell Culture Webinar

Griffin Ferrara — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 14:37:27 +0000

Did you miss our NASH 3D cell culture webinar with Corning and Molecular Devices on October 14th? If yes, it is now available on our website. You can learn more about designing an end-to-end NASH assay and how best to characterize 3D cell culture models in their entirety.

The webinar was hosted by Tim Baranowski, PhD of Molecular Devices, Erin Edwards, PhD of Visikol, and Ann Rossi Bilodeau, PhD of Corning. Along with characterizing 3D cell culture models, the trio covered:

• Increasing assay sensitivity and viability using Primary Human Hepatocytes (PHH) pre-qualified for spheroid formation
• Applying tissue clearing techniques to fully characterize 3D cell culture models in a single workflow
• Utilizing water immersion objectives and targeted acquisition with confocal imaging to fully characterize 3D fibrosis models in a high-throughput manner
• Performing 3D volumetric analysis and other custom analyses for unique feature extraction and quantification

The methods mentioned in the webinar are targeted towards integration of novel 3D cell culture, tissue clearing, and high-content imaging techniques to better identify therapeutic solutions to NASH/NAFLD.

This case study is useful for anyone interested in learning more about 3D cell culture models and how they can be used to answer complex biological questions. Reach out today to learn how Visikol can help your NASH/NAFLD study.

Watch

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Visikol, Corning and Molecular Devices NASH 3D Cell Culture Webinar – October 14th

Mike Johnson — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 13:18:18 +0000

In this webinar, we’ve partnered with Molecular Devices and Corning to present a case study for integrating novel 3D cell culture, tissue clearing, and high-content imaging techniques to better identify therapeutic solutions to NASH/NAFLD.

In this webinar you will learn how to:

– Increase assay sensitivity and viability using Primary Human Hepatocytes (PHH) pre-qualified for spheroid formation
– Apply tissue clearing techniques to fully characterize 3D cell culture models in a single workflow
– Utilize water immersion objectives and targeted acquisition with confocal imaging to fully characterize 3D fibrosis models in a high-throughput manner
– Perform 3D volumetric analysis and other custom analyses for unique feature extraction and quantification

The post Visikol, Corning and Molecular Devices NASH 3D Cell Culture Webinar – October 14th first appeared on Visikol.

Visikol Expands Imaging Capability with Molecular Devices ImageXpress

Mike Johnson — Mon, 04 May 2020 13:09:41 +0000

As a leading provider of high content imaging services and advanced cell culture assays, Visikol is continually working to expand its library of assays and the quality of its services. We are excited to announce that we just added a Molecular Devices ImageXpress high content confocal imager to our confocal imaging core. This instrument will allow Visikol to expand its imaging capacity and also to improve the overall quality of its imaging.

Visikol since its inception has been focused on providing researchers with high quality imaging data from tissues and is the leader in the 3D tissue imaging space. The company has automated much of its workflow and relies heavily upon high content confocal imaging devices as they allow for a continuous imaging workflow while being compatible with well-plates and traditional automation equipment. Visikol has employed high content confocal imagers for use with 2D and 3D cell culture models as well as the 3D imaging of whole tissues such as mouse brains and biopsies.

“One of the unique things that drove us to the ImageXpress system was the ability to customize the software wherein we can push the instrument to its limits and for use with a lot of the complex research questions that we are routinely tackling for our Clients. Additionally, Molecular Devices recently added lasers to the ImageXpress platform which greatly improved the device’s overall imaging quality compared to its previous non-coherent light sources,” described Visikol CSO Dr. Tom Villani.

The ImageXpress system leverages solid state lasers and best-in-class optics and detection to provide unparalleled imaging quality while also maintaining a robust instrument which means minimal downtime and continuous use.

The addition of this instrument to Visikol’s imaging core builds upon the companies Thermo Fisher CX7 LZR high content confocal imager, as well as its various slide scanners and custom built imaging devices such as its Clara™ Optical CT Scanner. Recently, Visikol also entered into a partnership with Fluidigm to offer Imaging Mass Cytomtery services to its Clients which allows for a higher level of multiplexing than traditional fluorescent multiplex imaging.

“At Visikol, we have the largest breadth of tissue imaging and image analysis services in the market and can assist our Clients with everything from microCT to whole brain microscopy and multiplex imaging,” explained Visikol Head of Services Dr. Erin Edwards. Every imaging modality has its advantages and disadvantages and Visikol is continually expanding and improving its portfolio of imaging equipment and techniques such that its Clients can easily transform their tissues into large datasets which can be mined for actionable insights.

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