AUTOMATED MONITORING OF CHEMOTACTIC CELL MOVEMENT

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Our phase I objective is to manufacture and test a series of instrument designs that will be capable of automated real time assessment of chemotactic cell movement in culture. Ultimately, we will design systems capable of high throughput screening for chemokines and other cell attractants. Moreover, these systems will facilitate automated assessment of pharmaceuticals that mediate or moderate chemotaxis, as well as drugs that modify non-directional movement (chemokinesis) that can be associated with cancer metastasis. When these objectives have been successfully met, the instrument will be invaluable to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms that are interestedin manipulation of cell motility that is associated with (for example) inflammation, autoimmune disease, and neoplasia. This work represents and entirely novel approach to the automated measurement of cell movement. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The instrument to be developed will enable scientists and clinicians to measure cell movement responses to drugs and other pharmaceuticals. This will vastly improve our assessment of specific disease states (e.g. inflammation, autoimmune disease, and neoplasia) and speed the development of therapeutic drugs for these conditions. The instrument will also facilitate the identification of gene disruptions that impede chemotactic cell responses, enabling the identification of genes that regulate the innate capacity of a cell to respond to external signals.