Trinity College Dublin - Articles and news items

Cancer biology where do we go next?

Issue 1 2010 / 22 February 2010 /

The World Cancer Report (2008) predicts a 50% worldwide increase in cancer incidence by 2030, predicting 75 million people living within a five year diagnosis of cancer1. This increase is partially fuelled by significant medical advances in developed countries ensuring people live longer. However, it is also attributable to developing countries adopting habits linked to cancer risk such as increased uptake of smoking and the acquisition of western diets. In 2007, cancer caused approximately 7.6 million or 13% of all human deaths2. Cancers associated with the greatest mortalities are lung, stomach, colorectal, liver and breast cancer respectively. There are modifiable risk factors common to many malignancies, including tobacco, overweight or obesity, poor physical activity, dietary factors, alcohol, sunlight exposure and chronic infection. Effective prevention will reduce the risk of cancer, and efficient screening will enable many to be successfully treated for their disease.

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High Content Analysis Roundtable

Issue 3 2009, Past issues / 29 May 2009 /

Participants:

Anthony Davies
Director of High Content Research Facility, Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin

Sarah Payne
Product Manager, TTP LabTech Limited

Khuong Truong
European Product Manager, BD Biosciences

Jeremy Simpson
Professor of Cell Biology, University College Dublin (UCD)

Oscar ‘Joe’ Trask
Head of Cellular Imaging Technologies, Duke University

Peter Simpson
Associate Director of Cancer Bioscience, AstraZeneca (more…)

High Content Analysis approach for targeted gene silencing and probing nanoscale cell responses

Issue 1 2009, Past issues / 7 February 2009 /

High Content Analysis and Screening technologies (HCA) ushered in a new era in the biomedical research, enabling the scientists to uncover previously unknown disease mechanisms and to introduce innovative approaches to the development of the new generations of therapeutic drugs with a potential to selectively target individual genes, molecules and subcellular organelles. The quest for the novel therapeutic targets starting from thousands of candidate molecules and compounds, narrowing down to a few leads and their subsequent optimisation and practical application, which for many years has been almost an exclusive privilege of the large pharmaceutical companies, is quickly becoming a routine in the academic research environment.

Investigations into vast collections of small molecule chemicals, genome-wide siRNA libraries and large sets of functionalised nanomaterials for their potential biomedical utilisation, for instance, in addition to being prohibitively time-and labour-consuming by conventional methods, all inevitably generate an extensive output of information difficult for routine analysis and correct interpretation within a confined time frame and restricted resourses. HCA technology is perfectly designed to overcome these limitations, permitting for multiplexed quantitative “on the fly” processing of large massives of data, in addition giving an opportunity of detailed retrospective data analysis thereby providing efficient solutions even within the shortfalls of manpower and funding frequently experienced by academic research centres and which have a potential to become more common in the current economic situation worldwide. We provide here an overview of two extremely beneficial HCA application scenarios currently utilised by the researchers at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, for tackling extensive massives of experimental data in search of siRNA tools targeting inflammation-associated processes, and for screening the safety and intracellular distribution of nanomaterials with promising biomedical application potential. (more…)

Development of cardiac cell based assays for study of cardiac disease – in with the new by automating the old

Issue 6 2008, Past issues / 3 December 2008 /

Approximately 45% of all deaths and 50% of all hospitalisations in the western world are a direct result of cardiovascular disease. Cardiomyocyte hypertrophy is a mechanism by which myocardial mass is increased to compensate for any elevated physical demands placed upon the heart, thus ensuring that adequate perfusion of body tissues is maintained during these periods. However, if the hypertrophic response persists, the heart enters a critical transition from compensatory to a patho-physiological de-compensatory state which eventually leads to heart failure.

The development of new therapeutic tools for the treatment of this condition has in many cases been hampered by the lack of biologically relevant experimental models on which new treatments can be tested.

With the advent of laboratory automation technologies, it is now possible to screen libraries comprising of hundreds of thousands of potential therapeutic agents. These new technological innovations have increased the demand for cell based experimental models that can be used in conjunction with research platforms such as High Content Screening technologies. (more…)

Utilisation of secondary screening

Issue 3 2008, Past issues / 19 June 2008 /

European Pharmaceutical Review has brought together four individuals from different sides of the scientific palette to discuss current and future issues surrounding secondary screening and maximising its potential. (more…)

Automated workflow optimisation and assay development strategies for High Content Research Facility, Trinity College Dublin

Issue 6 2007, Past issues / 23 November 2007 /

High Content Screening (HCS) is becoming increasingly utilised as an early drug-discovery and basic research tool for defining the functions of genes, proteins and other biomolecules in normal and abnormal cellular functions. HCS involves the integration of a number of preparation steps which include; cell-sample preparation, fluorescent labelling, image acquisition, image processing, image analysis, information management and knowledge mining₁.

These advanced microscopy and image analysis platforms are proving to be immensely powerful tools for the study of molecular and morphological events in cells. This allows for the first time, a multi-parametric characterisation of gross cellular responses and behaviour of a variety of molecular and cellular targets, including subcellular localisation and redistribution of individual proteins and complex cellular structures. In contrast to the more traditional biochemical or genetic analysis, HCS allows for the detection of physiological responses within the context of the structural and functional networks of cells in both normal and diseased states₂. (more…)