DNA-binding fluorescent dyes evaluate cytotoxicity in real-time during screening

High throughput screening of compounds in live cells is a powerful approach for discovering new drugs, but the potential for cell toxicity must be considered. A novel technique that uses DNA-binding fluorescent dyes to evaluate the cytotoxicity of an experimental compound in real-time during screening, saving time and resources, is described in ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the ASSAY and Drug Development Technologies website.

Lucius Chiaraviglio and James Kirby, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, evaluated 19 fluorescent DNA-binding dyes and identified four dyes that were not harmful to cells and could not cross the cell membrane if a cell was viable. The authors demonstrated the ability to use these dyes to detect cell death during drug screening in the article "Evaluation of Impermeant, DNA-Binding Dye Fluorescence as a Real-Time Readout of Eukaryotic Cell Toxicity in a High Throughput Screening Format."