High Throughput Intracellular Drug Screening Platform

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The main objective of this proposal is to develop a high-throughput intracellular drug screening platform. Fluxion proposes a rapid, safe, and efficient method to access proteins in the intact cell, by traversing the cell membrane, to facilitate functional screening of intracellular proteins as potential drug targets. This proposal focuses on developing a microfabricated single cell electroporation array which introduces otherwise impermeable drug compounds into the cellular array to dynamically screen for interactions between the compounds and the proteins. The completed array platform has functions including automatic single cell trapping and electroporation, rapid compound insertion, and multiplexed real-time optical and electrical monitoring. The specific aims of this project are to: I. Determine efficient electroporation conditions to open pores on the cell membrane and enable their resealing. II. Ensure optimal dosing of the drug compounds. III. Improve device design for multiplexing assays and for high-throughput.