The assay was automated in a 96-well format with a customized and fully integrated robotic system. The system equipment included: a Caliper Sciclone ALH 3000 workstation (Perkin Elmer) and a EL406 washer (BioTek) for liquid handling, an automated Liconic incubator (Thermo Scientific) for cold storage of plates, an automated Cytomat incubator (Thermo Scientific) for cell culture environment, a separate hotel for storage of plates at room temperature, a Synergy 4 plate reader, a Flexiseal plate heat sealer (K Biosciences, Beverly, MA), a Caliper Twister II, and a Beckman Sagian Orca robotic arm on a linear rail (Beckman Coulter, Fullerton, CA). Construction allowed for transfer of plates, reagents, and plasticware between all instruments, so that there was no need for any manual interference during screening assays. This entire system was enclosed in a custom-made laminar flow hood to allow for HTS screening capability under BSL2 sterile conditions. After the system demonstrated satisfactory performance in a 96-well format, the assay was miniaturized to a 384-well format and re-tested for reproducibility and stability under IFN-b and vehicle (1% DMSO) treatment conditions.