New technology streamlines drug discovery using single-molecule tracking
· News-MedicalNew drug discovery is a critical step for improving patients' lives. First, researchers must identify molecules in the body's cells that help drive disease, as these are potential targets for new drugs. The next step is to screen candidate drugs that can hit those targets. However, screening can be a challenging and time-consuming process.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team at Osaka University has developed a technology that streamlines drug discovery using single-molecule tracking. This method allows the researchers to explore the effects of many different candidate drugs on a single target molecule. Building on the team's large-scale intracellular single molecule imaging system, referred to as AiSIS, the technology screens new drugs 100 times faster than standard manual techniques.
The team tested their new method to screen drugs that can target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a molecule central to the development and progression of various cancers. Because several drugs that block EGFR are already available to treat lung cancer, this was a good way to determine how well their screening approach worked.
Daisuke Watanabe, lead author of the studyWe used a library of over 1,000 approved drugs to validate our screening method. We successfully identified all the drugs that are known to target EGFR and are currently used to treat cancer patients. More importantly, we found that the library included seven drugs that until now were not known to affect EGFR."
Source:
Journal reference: