CD BioSciences provides customers with individually or in combination with multiple imaging technologies to help them analyze large amounts of functional and molecular information, so as to accelerate the process of drug discovery and development. We look forward to cooperating with you and providing you with reliable technical services at different stages of drug discovery.

Introduction

In the last decade, cellular imaging has regained interest with the development and spread of microscopes with better resolution and faster acquisition. Cellular imaging is defined as the use of systems/techniques that enable the visualization of cell populations, single cells or sub-cellular structures in combination with image analysis tools. A variety of image analysis tools have been developed to process the information in digital images into meaningful parameters.

Today's imaging technologies are sufficiently robust to be used in drug development. The combination of high-content imaging and high-throughput screening systems allows the evaluation of tens or hundreds of thousands of compounds/drugs and the narrowing of the pool of potential candidates, which greatly accelerates the drug discovery process. Overall, cellular imaging offers new ways of assessing compound activity and has had a profound impact on the way in which early drug discovery programs are executed.

Fig.1 Imaging techniques that can be used to address key problems of pharmaceutical compound candidates. (Vermeulen, 2022)

Our Services

We have developed a variety of imaging techniques and applied them to multiple stages of drug discovery, including target discovery, drug screening in cell-based assays, early safety assessment and mode-of-action studies. Our services include but are not limited to:

• Detection of anatomical changes and physiological changes.
• Analysis of the chemical composition of tissue.
• Investigation of drug distribution and target occupancy.
• Detection of ligand-target interaction.
• Dynamic monitoring of drug-DNA interaction in living cells.
• Monitoring of calcium flux kinetics in whole cells.
• Quantification of subcellular changes (such as protein translocation across subcellular compartments).
• Assessment of desired on-target effects versus off-target toxic effects.
• Secondary screening or lead optimization.

Our Techniques

• Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)
• Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM)
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI)
• Mass spectrometry imaging (MSI)
• Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
• Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
• Fluorescent immunohistochemistry (IHC) imaging

Applications

• Study on disease mechanisms.
• Identification of new pharmacological targets.
• Development of new potential therapeutic agents.
• Assessment of new potential drug candidates and therapeutic responses.

As a biotechnology company with a core focus on biophysical analysis, CD BioSciences has established a variety of imaging methods to accelerate the drug discovery process. Our high-resolution imaging technologies will provide valuable information to our clients in target discovery, lead optimization, in vitro toxicology and compound analysis. If you are interested in our cellular imaging services, please contact us for more details.

Reference

1. Vermeulen, I.; et al. Multimodal molecular imaging in drug discovery and development. Drug Discov Today. 2022, 13:S1359-6446(22)00156-8.

• Drug Design Based on X-ray Crystallography
• Thermodynamic Characterization of Biomolecular Interactions
• Target Binding Analysis by HDX-MS
• Binding Affinity Measurement by MST
• Protein Stability Evaluation by TSA
• Fragment Screening Based on WAC
• Hit Identification by NMR-based Techniques
• Qualification of Targeting Protein-Protein Interactions
• Measurement of Ligand Binding Kinetics
• Identification of Small-Molecule Aggregation
• Analysis of Free Energy Calculations
• Modeling of Scaffold Hopping Transformations
• AFM-Based Biophysical Analysis of Drugs