High content, high-throughput screening for small molecule inducers of NF-κB translocation

PLoS One. 2018 Jun 28;13(6):e0199966. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199966. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

NF-κB is an important mediator of immune activity and its activation is essential in mounting immune response to pathogens. Here, we describe the optimization and implementation of a high-throughput screening platform that utilizes high content imaging and analysis to monitor NF-κB nuclear translocation. We screened 38,991 compounds from three different small molecule libraries and identified 103 compound as hits; 31% of these were active in a dose response assay. Several of the molecules lacked cytotoxicity or had a selectivity index of more than 2-fold. Our image-based approach provides an important first step towards identifying small molecules with immunomodulatory activity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Active Transport, Cell Nucleus / drug effects
  • Cell Nucleus / metabolism*
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical / methods
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / cytology
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Immunologic Factors* / chemistry
  • Immunologic Factors* / pharmacology
  • NF-kappa B / metabolism*

Substances

  • Immunologic Factors
  • NF-kappa B

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Life Sciences Discovery Fund [Grant Number 19547899], the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and the Washington Research Foundation. http://www.lsdfa.org/; https://murdocktrust.org/; http://www.wrfseattle.org/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.