Article
Physics, Applied
Somaiyeh Khoubafarin, Ashish Kharel, Saloni Malla, Peuli Nath, Richard E. Irving, Devinder Kaur, Amit K. Tiwari, Aniruddha Ray
Summary: This study presents a scattering microscopy based method for quantifying cell motility and identifying cell death in breast cancer cells. The apoptotic and necrotic pathways can be identified by analyzing the temporal changes in morphological features of the cells. A trained neural network is able to automatically identify cellular morphological changes and classify cell death mechanisms with an accuracy of over 95%.
JOURNAL OF PHYSICS D-APPLIED PHYSICS
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Danping Zhang, Qiong Bian, Yi Zhou, Qiaoling Huang, Jianqing Gao
Summary: The penetration behavior of topical substances in the skin is not only related to transdermal delivery efficiency, but also to the safety and therapeutic effects of topical products. Researchers have explored various theories and technologies to understand the transdermal process, with label-free imaging technologies emerging as a promising approach due to their advantages of not requiring dyes and tissue destruction. This review discusses the mechanisms and applications of popular label-free imaging technologies in current transdermal research, highlighting their potential for providing valuable information on tissue distribution and guiding the development of transdermal drug delivery systems.
ASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Tanchen Ren, Miribani Maitusong, Xuhao Zhou, Xiaoqian Hong, Si Cheng, Yin Lin, Junhui Xue, Dilin Xu, Jinyong Chen, Yi Qian, Yuwen Lu, Xianbao Liu, Yang Zhu, Jian'an Wang
Summary: Tissue engineering requires precise control of cell distribution in materials and structures. Current ink-based bioprinting methods face challenges in achieving universal applicability due to the specific conditions required for different inks. The Magneto-Archimedes effect based strategy offers a promising alternative by directly modulating cell locomotion without relying on inks. However, its widespread adoption has been limited by the complexity and precision of magnetic field distribution. By controlling the paramagnetic reagent concentration and magnet gaps, researchers have successfully patterned micrometer-scale cell assemblies with single or multiple cell types. This Mag-Arch patterning technique has potential applications in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and cell biology research.
Article
Biophysics
Hao Chen, Bin Jiang, James G. Shamul, Xiaoming He
Summary: The beating pattern of 3D iPSC-CSs can be conveniently detected and quantified by calculating the relative change of entropy in all frames/images of non-fluorescent optical signal without labeling any cells. This label-free method enables rapid detection and quantification of the beating pattern of each iPSC-CS, as well as reliable detection of their responses to anticancer and cardiac drugs.
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
(2021)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Komal Sharma, Krishna K. Sharma, Anku Sharma, Rahul Jain
Summary: The development of peptide therapeutics from reaction vessels to life-saving drugs has been fascinating. Advances in peptide chemistry techniques have contributed to the progress, including microwave irradiation, ligation chemistry, recombinant synthesis, and integration with metal catalysis. Emerging technologies, such as DNA-encoded libraries and display techniques, are changing the landscape of peptide drug discovery. This review analyzes FDA-approved peptide drugs and those in clinical trials, highlighting recent advances in peptide-based drug discovery.
DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Agnieszka A. Kaczor, Agata Zieba, Dariusz Matosiuk
Summary: The significance of water molecules in drug design and the use of computational methods. The importance of water molecules in structure-based drug design is discussed, along with computational approaches used to predict solvent-related effects. The WaterMap concept and its application in virtual screening are introduced.
EXPERT OPINION ON DRUG DISCOVERY
(2023)
Review
Cell Biology
Juan Huang, Qi Feng, Li Wang, Bingying Zhou
Summary: Cardiac diseases are the leading cause of global mortality, but limited progress has been made in developing therapeutic options. The use of animal models has limitations due to species-specific differences, leading to inaccurate drug testing results. Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) technology offers promising alternatives for heart disease modeling, cell therapy, and drug discovery, with potential for revolutionizing these fields with further optimization required.
FRONTIERS IN CELL AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Md Alamgir Kabir, Ashish Kharel, Saloni Malla, Zachary Joseph Kreis, Peuli Nath, Jared Neil Wolfe, Marwa Hassan, Devinder Kaur, Hamed Sari-Sarraf, Amit K. Tiwari, Aniruddha Ray
Summary: The study introduces a high-throughput method based on digital holography for automatic identification of cell death mechanisms with high accuracy, providing a low-cost alternative for cell biology research.
JOURNAL OF BIOPHOTONICS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Tanja Thomsen, Ahmed B. Ayoub, Demetri Psaltis, Harm-Anton Klok
Summary: Cells are considered attractive carriers for nanoparticulate cargo, allowing enhanced control over drug-loaded polymers. Monitoring surface modification or internalization of nanoparticles by cells using fluorescence-based techniques poses risks and drawbacks. Covalently tethered fluorescent dyes provide a robust approach for monitoring cell surface conjugation reactions and analyzing nanoparticle-decorated cells, while optical diffraction tomography is suggested as an alternative technique for characterization without the need for fluorescent labels.
Article
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Valentina Bergamini, Elisa Resca, Alberto Portone, Tiziana Petrachi, Francesco Ganzerli, Stefano Truzzi, Giorgio Mari, Luigi Rovati, Massimo Dominici, Elena Veronesi
Summary: The Corning Epic (R) label-free (ELF) system is a novel technology extensively used in various fields, including drug discovery and biocompatibility tests. In this study, the biocompatibility of resins used in blood filters was investigated using the ELF system, which demonstrated its ability to mimic clinical scenarios and provide valuable insights into biological behaviors and intracellular pathways.
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Maximillian Zinner, Florian Dahlhausen, Philip Boehme, Jan Ehlers, Linn Bieske, Leonard Fehring
Summary: Quantum computing is expected to revolutionize drug research, but practical quantum computation is not yet a reality. There is a growing interest in quantum computing related activities in pharmaceutical companies, startups, and academia in the field of drug discovery and development, particularly focusing on lead optimization and compound screening, highlighting the need for collaboration in this highly dynamic ecosystem.
DRUG DISCOVERY TODAY
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Jingxing Wu, Yi Xiao, Mujie Lin, Hanxuan Cai, Duancheng Zhao, Yirui Li, Hailin Luo, Chuanqi Tang, Ling Wang
Summary: In this study, a total of 832 classification models were constructed using the FP-GNN deep learning method, based on the collection of 485,900 compounds and their bioactivity records. These models showed considerable predictive performance, with the highest AUC values of 0.91, 0.88, and 0.91 for targets, academia-sourced cell lines, and NCI60 cancer cell lines, respectively. A user-friendly webserver called DeepCancerMap was developed based on these models, providing various functions for anticancer drug discovery.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Fatemeh Baraty, Samaneh Hamedi
Summary: This paper proposes the use of a ring resonator in a two-dimensional photonic crystal biosensor. The biosensor detects changes in the light characteristics caused by binding the sample to the analyte. By forming a periodic array of silicon rods with a refractive index of n = 3.46 in the air background, a cubic lattice structure is created. The resonant wavelength shifts when the refractive index of the analyte changes, resulting in a transmission spectrum shift of approximately 4.47 nm towards higher wavelengths. This mechanism can distinguish between normal and cancerous cells. The designed structure has average values of sensitivity, quality factor, FOM, and transmission of 308.5 (nm/RIU), 3803.55, 848.06 RIU-1, and 98.78%, respectively. It shows promising applications for highly sensitive label-free optical biosensors.
RESULTS IN PHYSICS
(2023)
Review
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Bolormaa Baljinnyam, Michael Ronzetti, Anton Simeonov
Summary: Luminescence-based technologies, including chemiluminescence and bioluminescence, have extensive applications in drug discovery due to their high signal-to-noise ratio and lack of excitation light source requirement. This review provides an overview of luciferase-based technologies and discusses their recent advances and use cases in drug discovery. Improved luminescent reporter systems will lead to broader applications of luminescence-based technologies in early-stage drug discovery.
EXPERT OPINION ON DRUG DISCOVERY
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Yao Chen, Zheng Zhou, Shu Zhu, Zhonghua Ni, Nan Xiang
Summary: The rapid development of microfluidic technologies has provided a promising tool for single-cell analysis, enabling a deeper understanding of the physiological and pathological states of cells. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in label-free microfluidics for analyzing the biophysical properties of single cells, and discusses their applications in cell identification, disease diagnosis, and drug resistance studies.
MICROCHEMICAL JOURNAL
(2022)
