Consequently drugs such as taxol, which disrupt microtubule dynamics, have proven effective in combating cancer. Although a handful of reagents that specifically disrupt the cytoskeleton are known, there is no general technique available that provides a rapid, systematic, and inexpensive method for identifying such compounds. Efficient identification of such reagents will have immediate value both in the applied and basic biomedical research communities. Scientists at the University of California have invented a rapid screening method for cytoskeletal-disrupting compounds. Unlike cumbersome tissue culture-based methods in current use, the UC screening method employs specially prepared insect tissue that is treated with a test compound for a brief period followed by a few simple preparative steps.
Quantitative analysis is rapid and performed with a conventional microscope.
Thousands of drugs could be quickly processed by a properly trained technician. The UC drug screening method is flexible and can be adapted to identify compounds that block nuclear division in addition to reagents that interact with the cytoskeleton. The UC screening method is designed to process compounds with minimal time and expense, and therefore would serve as an ideal means of selecting valuable drugs from a great number of uncharacterized compounds.