Systematic approaches to dissect biological processes in stem cells by image-based screening.
High-throughput RNAi or small molecule screens have proven to be powerful methodologies for the systematic dissection of cellular processes. In model organisms and cell lines, large-scale screens have identified key components of many cellular pathways and helped to identify novel targets in disease-relevant pathways. Image-based high-content screening has become an increasingly important tool in high-throughput screening, enabling changes in phenotype characteristics, such as cell morphology and cell differentiation, to be monitored. In this review, we discuss the use of image-based screening approaches to explore the behavior of adult, embryonic, and induced pluripotent stem cells. First, we review how current pluripotency and differentiation assays can be adapted to high-throughput formats. We then describe general aspects of image-based screening of cells and present an outlook on challenges for screening stem cells.
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Division of Signaling and Functional Genomics, and Heidelberg University, Faculty of Medicine Mannheim, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Heidelberg, Germany.
Gerrit
G
Erdmann
Christian
C
Volz
Michael
M
Boutros
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D039904:Pluripotent Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*