FLOW-INJECTION MICROSCOPY - A NOVEL TOOL FOR THE STUDY OF CELLULAR-RESPONSE AND DRUG DISCOVERY

Studying responses of live cells to agonists, antagonists and other ph ysical stimuli offers insight into their complex membrane and internal biochemistry. An experimental technique has been developed in which r esponses of living cells in an inverted radial flow chamber are contin uously monitored while being repeatedly stimulated using controlled pu lses of a biologically active ligand. Precisely defined flow condition s result in reproducible peaks which can be numerically analysed by co mparison with a tracer curve obtained by substituting a dye for the st imulus. Exploratory studies have demonstrated that the flow injection technique can provide a novel method for kinetics of receptor binding and cellular responses. Flow injection microscopy (FIM) allows identif ication of biologically active ligands and their ranking based on meas urement of the cellular responses in a short time frame. The use of FI M for rapid drug screening, through monitoring of the initial kinetics of cellular responses, is demonstrated on a model system.