Cytological profiling: providing more haystacks for chemists' needles.
Conventional high-throughput 'chemical genetic' screening seeks to identify small-molecule inhibitors of a specific protein or pathway. A recent study describes how unbiased screening of cellular morphology, followed by affinity purification to identify targets of compounds with interesting effects, can lead to the identification of novel inhibitors.
Lorang
Janet
J
Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
King
Randall W
RW
D048430:Cell Shape; D002477:Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D020650:Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / Q000379:methods*