High throughput cherry-picking of solvated samples.

Advances in the design of automated compound storage systems have made it possible to store large collections of research compounds in individual single-use aliquots dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide and rapidly retrieve a specific group off them. This 'cherry-picking' approach offers researchers the opportunity to request large numbers of compounds desired for testing without having to also retrieve all the other compounds stored on the same rack or plate. This makes it possible to meet the increasing demand for samples from High Throughput Screening and Therapeutic Area teams without adding staff to dispense from powder each time, without the constraints imposed by storing in solvated compounds in fixed-well 96- or 384-way plates, and without sacrificing sample quality or shelf life by storing at room temperature.

Identification of halosalicylamide derivatives as a novel class of allosteric inhibitors of HCV NS5B polymerase.

Halosalicylamide derivatives were identified from high-throughput screening as potent inhibitors of HCV NS5B polymerase. The subsequent structure and activity relationship revealed the absolute requirement of the salicylamide moiety for optimum activity. Methylation of either the hydroxyl group or the amide group of the salicylamide moiety abolished the activity while the substitutions on both phenyl rings are acceptable.

A high throughput fluorescent assay for measuring the activity of fatty acid amide hydrolase.

Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is the enzyme responsible for the rapid degradation of fatty acid amides such as the endocannabinoid anandamide. Inhibition of FAAH activity has been suggested as a therapeutic approach for the treatment of chronic pain, depression and anxiety, through local activation of the cannabinoid receptor CB1. We have developed a high throughput screening assay for identification of FAAH inhibitors using a novel substrate, decanoyl 7-amino-4-methyl coumarin (D-AMC) that is cleaved by FAAH to release decanoic acid and the highly fluorescent molecule 7-amino-4-methyl coumarin (AMC).

A strategy for discovery of novel broad-spectrum antibacterials using a high-throughput Streptococcus pneumoniae transcription/translation screen.

The authors report the development of a high-throughput screen for inhibitors of Streptococcus pneumoniae transcription and translation (TT) using a luciferase reporter, and the secondary assays used to determine the biochemical spectrum of activity and bacterial specificity. More than 220,000 compounds were screened in mixtures of 10 compounds per well, with 10,000 picks selected for further study. False-positive hits from inhibition of luciferase activity were an extremely common artifact.

Identification and characterization of novel antagonists of the CCR3 receptor.

Eotaxin, an inducer of eosinophil migration and activation, exerts its activity by binding to CCR3, the C-C chemokine receptor 3. An inhibitor of the eotaxin-CCR3 binding interaction may have potential as an anti-inflammatory drug for treatment of asthma, parasitic infections, and allergic disorders. A radioligand binding assay was developed using HEK cells transfected with CCR3, with (125)I eotaxin as the ligand.

Do structurally similar molecules have similar biological activity?

To design diverse combinatorial libraries or to select diverse compounds to augment a screening collection, computational chemists frequently reject compounds that are > or =0.85 similar to one already chosen for the combinatorial library or in the screening set. Using Daylight fingerprints, this report shows that for IC(50) values determined as a follow-up to 115 high-throughput screening assays, there is only a 30% chance that a compound that is > or = 0.