AUTOMATED MONITORING OF CHEMOTACTIC CELL MOVEMENT

我们的第一阶段目标是制造和测试一系列能够自动实时评估培养中趋化细胞运动的仪器设计。最终，我们将设计能够高通量筛选趋化因子和其他细胞诱导剂的系统。此外，这些系统将促进对介导或适度趋化性的药物以及改变可能与癌症转移相关的非定向运动(趋化运动)的药物的自动评估。当这些目标成功实现后，该仪器对制药和生物技术公司来说将是无价的，因为它们对与(例如)炎症、自身免疫性疾病和肿瘤相关的细胞运动性的操纵感兴趣。这项工作代表了一种全新的细胞运动自动测量方法。拟议的商业应用：将开发的仪器将使科学家和临床医生能够测量药物和其他药物对细胞运动的反应。这将极大地改善我们对特定疾病状态(例如炎症、自身免疫性疾病和肿瘤)的评估，并加快针对这些疾病的治疗药物的开发。该仪器还将有助于识别阻碍趋化细胞反应的基因中断，从而能够识别调节细胞对外部信号做出反应的天生能力的基因。

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.