ForceBiology

机械信号在细胞迁移、增殖、侵袭和收缩等功能中起着至关重要的作用。细胞力可用于发现和评估新药的效果，但主要由于缺乏HTS和定量分析，在很大程度上尚未得到探索。尽管知道它们在疾病中的重要性，但药物开发人员获得产生力的测定方法的机会有限，特别是在高通量筛选的背景下。目前，市场上很少有体外平台可以在降低成本和复杂性的平台上测量迁移和收缩性。因此，迫切需要开发和探索细胞力，以高通量的方式研究、筛选和发现新的药物化合物。研究表明，机械信号和收缩能力可以决定人类细胞的命运。在心血管疾病（CVD）中，机械信号引起细胞微环境硬化，导致高血压和高脂血症等危及生命的疾病。据世卫组织称，每5例心血管疾病死亡中就有4例可归因于心脏病发作和中风。血管平滑肌细胞（VSMCs）由血管壁的机械活性成分组成，赋予其收缩和扩张的能力。为了评估肌肉组织的活力，测量组织的收缩性能以及控制其结构是必不可少的。准确的收缩力数据可以帮助开发更有效和更安全的药物。收缩力的产生和传递过程在确定VSMCs的机械效率方面起着重要的作用。目前，市场上还没有工具可以在一个可靠的、高含量的平台上量化vsmc的收缩力，该平台适合制药行业。ForceBiology满足了这一市场需求。

Mechanical cues play crucial role in cell function such as migration, proliferation, invasion and contraction. Cellular forces can be used for discovering and assessing the effects of new drugs but has been left largely unexplored, mainly due to lack of HTS and quantitative assays. Despite knowledge of their significance in disease, drug developers have had limited access to force-generating assays, especially in the context of high-throughput screening. Presently there are few in vitro platforms available on the market for measuring migration and contractility on a platform with reduced cost and complexity. Therefore, there is pressing need to develop and explore cellular forces to investigate, screen and discover new drug compounds in high throughput manner. Research has shown that mechanical cues and contractility can dictate the fate of a human cell. In cardiovascular disease (CVD), mechanical cues give rises to stiffening of the cellular microenvironment causing life threatening conditions such as hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. According to WHO, 4 out of 5 CVD deaths, can be attributable to heart attacks and strokes. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) comprise the mechanically active component of the blood vessel wall endowing it with the ability to constrict and dilate. To evaluate the viability of a muscle tissue, it is essential to measure the tissue's contractile performance as well as to control its structure. Accurate contractility data can aid in development of more effective and safer drugs. the processes of contractile force generation and transmission play an important function role in defining the mechanical efficiency of VSMCs. Today there are no tools on the market to quantify the contractile forces in VSMCs in a reliable, high-content platform suitable for the pharma industry. ForceBiology addresses this market need.