High throughput screening and automation

The high-throughput screening (HTS) platform is equipped with various integrated liquid/plate handling devices that enables automated HTS in biochemical assays, cell-based assays and small model organisms (e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana). A multilabel (absorbance, fluorescence, luminescence) plate reader (EnVision, PerkinElmer) is integrated for automated whole well and cell population read-outs. An automated microscope (Operetta CLS, PerkinElmer) is integrated for image-based analysis of cell (sub)populations, single cells and subcellular events. The platform is used to identify compounds as novel chemical starting points for drug/agro discovery and/or chemical tool development. For this purpose, a diverse collection of 45,000 compounds is available. After hit identification, software tools are in place for structure-based classification of hits and data visualization. Subsequently, hits can be validated on the platform by means of dose-response, dose-tox and structure-activity relationship experiments. For drug repurposing and assay validation, a set of 2,400 known drugs/bioactives is available. To identify novel drug targets in a disease process, a human siRNA collection (8,000 genes, druggable genome) can be screened.
 

Corefacilities VIB
 

VIB Screening Core and UGent Expertise Centre for Bio-assay Development and Screening (C-BIOS), VIB-UGent research building FSVM, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Gent
 

Responsible PI and contact: dr. Dominique Audenaert (VIB-UGent)