Label-free high throughput biomolecular screening system and method
A screening system and method are described herein which provide a unique and practical solution for enabling label-free high throughput screening (HTS) to aid in the discovery of new drugs. In one embodiment, the screening system enables direct binding assays to be performed in which a biomolecular interaction of a chemical compound (drug candidate) with a biomolecule (therapeutic target) can be detected using assay volumes and concentrations that are compatible with the current practices of HTS in the pharmaceutical industry. The screening system also enables the detection of bio-chemical interactions that occurr in the wells of a microplate which incorporates biosensors and surface chemistry to immobilize the therapeutic target at the surface of the biosensors. The screening system also includes fluid handling and plate handling devices to help perform automated HTS assays.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/701,445 filed on Jul. 20, 2005 and entitled “Label-Free High Throughput Biomolecular Screening System and Method” which is incorporated by reference herein in.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high throughput biomolecular screening system and method that use a label independent optical detection technique to interrogate biosensors which are incorporated within the wells of a microplate. In the preferred embodiment, the high throughput biomolecular screening system includes automated instruments for dispensing, mixing, incubating, microplate handling, and implementing measurement protocols to provide high throughput detection and analysis of biomolecular interactions that take place on the biosensors in the microplate.
2. Description of Related Art
Today many areas of biological research utilize label free detection technologies to help perform sensitive and time-constrained assays. A typical assay involves the detection of a chemical/biochemical compound (drug candidate) binding to an immobilized molecule (the therapeutic target) at the surface of individual optical sensors (biosensors) located at the bottom of each well in a disposable microplate. And, the potential for using label free detection technologies to perform high throughput screening (HTS) assays in the drug discovery process was recently discussed in the following article:
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- John Comley “LABEL-FREE DETECTION-New Biosensors Facilitate Broader Range of Drug Discovery Applications'”, Drug Discovery World, Winter 2004/5, pages 63-74.
In this article, one of the systems described utilizes a label free detection technology based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,264 assigned to Pharmacia Biosensor AB discloses an analytical system that uses SPR and microfluidics to detect biomolecular interactions in real time on four sensing areas. In addition, U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0003018A1 assigned to Prolinx Incorporated discloses instruments and systems that use miniaturized SPR sensors to enable the real time analysis of molecular interactions. Because, both of these systems are designed for real time kinetic analysis of molecular interactions, they have limited multiplexing capabilities which limits their throughput such that they cannot be used in HTS. Furthermore, these systems do not use standardized SBS 96, 384 or 1536 microplates. The first drawback is also true for screening systems based on non-optical detection principles (Cf. John Comley's article). Accordingly, there is a need to provide a label-free technology that enables the label free detection of a bio-chemical interaction between a drug compound and a biomolecule in high throughput primary screens. This need and other needs are satisfied by the high throughput biomolecular screening system and method of the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention includes a screening system and method which provide a unique and practical solution for enabling label-free high throughput screening (HTS) to aid in the discovery of new drugs. In one embodiment, the screening system enables direct binding assays to be performed in which a biomolecular interaction of a chemical compound (drug candidate) with a biomolecule (therapeutic target) can be detected using assay volumes and concentrations that are compatible with the current practices of HTS in the pharmaceutical industry. The screening system also enables the detection of bio-chemical interactions that occur in the wells of a microplate which incorporates biosensors and surface chemistry to immobilize the therapeutic target at the surface of the biosensors. The screening system also includes fluid handling and plate handling devices to help perform automated HTS assays.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSA more complete understanding of the present invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
Referring to
The screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c all have slightly different configurations but as will be discussed below they all have the same capabilities and can perform high throughput screenings of drug compound libraries in disposable microplates using a label-free optical detection technology. As shown in
As shown in
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- 1.1 Optical subsystem 150.
- 1.2 Plate alignment subsystem 160.
- 1.3 Environmental control subsystem 170.
- 1.4 Fluid handling and plate transport subsystems 180a and 180b.
- 1.5 Computer/Software subsystem 190.
- 1.6 Device 135 which interfaces screening system 100 and external equipment 1304 (see
FIG. 13 ).
1.1 Optical Subsystem 150
In one embodiment, the optical subsystem 150 has a light source 210 (superluminescent diode (SLD) 210) which is fiberized and connected to a variable optical attenuator (VOA) 212 that is connected to a polarization scrambler 214. The polarization scrambler 214 outputs a light beam which is split by a 1×16 splitter 216 into 16 individual optical fibers 218. A 1×2 splitter array 220 having 16 channels connects each optical fiber 216 to one of 16 fiber pigtailed microlenses 222 (optical head 222) (see
The resonance wavelength indicates whether or not the chemical/biochemical compound (drug candidate) interacted with an immobilized molecule (the therapeutic target) on the surface of one of the biosensors 204 located at the bottom of each well in the disposable microplate 206. This biochemical interaction like material binding, adsorption etc. . . . alters the refractive index on top of the biosensor 204 which alters the biosensor's optical response and hence the measured wavelength and makes it possible to directly monitor biological events in label-free assays. It should be noted that an increase of the refractive index as sensed by the biosensors 204 produce an increase in the wavelength of the reflected light 208.
Referring to
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- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/027,547 entitled “Spatially Scanned Optical Reader System and Method for Using Same”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/977,520 entitled “Single-Fiber Launch/Receive System for Biosensing Applications”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,572 entitled “Optical Interrogation Systems With Reduced Parasitic Reflections and a Method for Filtering Parasitic Reflections”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/058,155 entitled “Single Mode (SM) Fiber Optical Reader System and Method for Interrogating Resonant Waveguide-Grating Sensor(s)”.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
In addition, the following documents describe other types of optical subsystems 150 that could be implemented in the present invention:
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- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/602,304 entitled “Optical Interrogation System and Method for Using Same”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/019,439 entitled “Arrayed Sensor Measurement System and Method”
- U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,433 entitled “Waveguide Grid Array and Optical Measurement Arrangement”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/100,199 (Attorney Docket No. SP03-062B) entitled “Optical Interrogation System and Method for 2-D Sensor Arrays”.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
1.2 Plate Alignment Subsystem 160.
In one embodiment, the plate alignment subsystem 160 has a microplate mounting mechanism 400 which comprises a base 402 with two surfaces, one primary surface 410 and a secondary surface 412. The secondary surface 412 is inset on the end walls 414 and side walls 416 that form the opening/detection aperture 406 within the base 402. The secondary surface 412 forms a ledge, peripheral to the detection aperture 406, and defines a nesting receptacle 420. The nesting receptable 420 forms the area to be occupied by a secured microplate 206 (see
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- U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60/701,452 (Attorney Docket No. SP05-086P) entitled “Kinematic Wellplate Mounting Method”.
The contents of this document are incorporated by reference herein.
1.3 Environmental Control Subsystem 170.
The environmental control subsystem 170 is used to minimize the influence of the external environment (e.g. temperature fluctuations) within the incubation chamber 110, the load lock chamber 120 and the measurement chamber 130 of the screening system 100 (see
1.4 Fluid Handling and Plate Transport Subsystems 180a and 180b.
The fluid handling and plate transport subsystems 180a and 180b are used to move one or more microplates 206 within the measurement chamber system 110. In one embodiment, the fluid handling subsystem 180a has a pipettor (not shown) that can transfer fluids between the assay microplate 206 and the source microplate (not shown). And, the plate transport subsystem 180b has a gripper (not shown) which is used to move one microplate 206 (assay microplate) into a measurement position and to move another microplate (source microplate) into a fluid handling position. In the preferred embodiment, the plate transport subsystem 180b operates to move microplates into and out of the measurement position. It can include one or more of the following components such as rotating arms, plate carriages, grippers, lifters and conveyor systems (for example). Basically, the plate transport subsystem 180b provides a means for enabling multiple microplates to be in the measurement chamber 130. For example, when one microplate is being measured (optically interrogated), another microplate can be moved into position to be measured next, and the previous microplate can be moved out of the screening system 100. A more detailed description about these subsystems 180a and 180b is provided below with respect to
1.5 Computer 140/Software Subsystem 190.
The computer 140/software subsystem 190 controls the instrument hardware in the screening system 100 and also coordinates the measurement and processes the data obtained from the interrogation of the microplate 206. An exemplary electrical architecture of the computer 140/software subsystem 190 and the optical subsystem 150 is depicted in
1.5.1 Digital Timing Generation Unit 510
The spectrometer IO board 505 provides and keeps track of all the real time digital signals for the optics module 150. To help it do this, the digital timing generation unit 510 receives a quadrature encoder input from a scanning axis encoder that is associated with the translation stage and restraining mechanism 400 which moves and supports the microplate 206 (see
1.5.2 112 Bit Data Bus 518a
Each A/D converter in each spectrometer 224 presents a 14 bit signal to the spectrometer IO board 505. For each clocked pixel, there is a 14 bit number that represents the signal level on that pixel. The 14 bit buses from each of 8 spectrometers in one of the two banks are ganged together to create a 112 bit data bus 518a. Each spectrometer ribbon cable contains 14 bits of A/D data. At the spectrometer IO board 505, the 112 bit data bus 518a is connected to a 112 bit FPGA input port (not shown). Both banks of 8 spectrometers 224 share the same 112 bit data bus 518a. In addition, the digital timing generation unit 510 uses a bank control line to control which bank of spectrometers 224 is allowed to use the 112 bit data bus 518a. Only one bank of 8 spectrometers 224 can write to the 112 data bus 518 at any given time.
1.5.3 Optical Beam Accumulation Unit 512
As the raw spectra is being accumulated from the spectrometers 224, the spectrometer IO board 505 is able to either pass the raw spectra up to the PC 226, or, it is able to perform gain and offset calibrations to the pixel data and then accumulate a series of raw spectra to effectively create a larger “virtual” optical beam 208.
1.5.4 Spectra Interleaving Unit 514
Based on how the spectra are collected and optionally accumulated, it may be necessary to interleave the pixel data from each spectrometer 224 together before sending the data to the PC 226. So, for example, pixel#1 of spectrometer #1, and then pixel #1 of spectrometer#2 may need to be interleaved before being sent to the PC 226.
1.5.5 Spectra Data Stream 516
The spectra that is collected by the spectrometer IO board 505 can be uploaded to the PC 226 over a 32 MB/sec firewire channel 516. In this case, the host PC 226 would have a firewire card that directs the data into internal memory (not shown).
1.5.6. Raw Spectra Sorting and Binning Unit 504
Based on how the data was collected, the spectra may need to be sorted back into spectral waveforms for each optical channel. Also, further accumulation similar to what was done on the spectrometer IO board 505 could take place at this time to create a larger “virtual” optical beam 208.
1.5.7 Peak Detection Algorithm Unit 506
Each raw spectra, or series of raw spectra that are accumulated together are then processed with a peak detection algorithm that attempts to resolve the position of the resonance on the CCD array in each of the spectrometers 224.
1.5.8 Assay Binding Signal Unit 508
The assay binding signal unit 508 uses the output from the peak detection algorithm unit 506 to calculate the assay binding signal based on the type of microplate 206 that was inserted into the measurement chamber 130. For example, a well 610 that is using self referencing would take the signal pad wavelength minus the reference pad wavelength as the binding signal (see
The PC 226 also has a graphic user interface (not shown) at which an operator can chose between an assay development mode in which the reflected light peak positions of a given row of sensors are monitored in real time or a high throughput screening mode in which the microplate is fully scanned and individual data are generated for each well. Both of these modes are described in detail below with respect to
1.6 Device 135
This device 135 functions as an interface with external equipment like a high throughput screening (HTS) line 1304 which is shown in
A description is provided next about an exemplary disposable microplate 206 that can be interrogated by the screening system 100.
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- 2.1 Biosensor 204.
- 2.2 Biosensor's base plate 603.
- 2.3 Upper (holey) plate 602/base plate 603 assembly.
- 2.4 Biosensor's surface attachment chemistry.
- 2.5 Biosensor's signal/reference areas.
2.1 Biosensor 204.
In one embodiment, the biosensor 204 is a resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensor 204 which has a structure as shown in
For a more detailed discussion about the structure and functionality of the biosensor 204, reference is made to the following documents:
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- U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,843 entitled “Optical Sensor for Selective Detection of Substances and/or for the Detection of Refractive Index Changes in Gaseous, Liquid, Solid and Porous Samples”.
- U.S. Pat. No. 5,738,825 entitled “Optical Biosensor Matrix.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
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- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/027,547 entitled “Spatially Scanned Optical Reader System and Method for Using Same”
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/210,920 (Attorney Docket No. SP04-149A/WJT003-0082) entitled “Optical Reader System and Method for Monitoring and Correcting Lateral and Angular Misalignments of Label Independent Biosensors”.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
2.2 Biosensor's Base Plate 603.
In one embodiment, the microplate 206 has an optical base plate 603 made from a glass substrate 706 that is covered by a coating of a UV cured resin (e.g., acrylate-based formulation) in which the diffractive grating structures 704 are replicated (see
2.3 Upper (Holey) Plate 602/Base Plate 603 Assembly.
As shown in
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- ANSI/SBS 1-2004 Footprint dimensions
- ANSI/SBS 2-2004 Height dimensions (the overall height of the plate is 14.22 mm)
- ANSI/SBS 3-2004 Bottom outside flange dimensions
- ANSI/SBS 4-2004 Well positions
Also, in the preferred embodiment, the optical base plate 603 is attached to the holey plate 602 by using an adhesive (e.g., UV cationic epoxy—Loctite® 3340). For a detailed description about the preferred microplate 206 and the preferred adhesive assembly method, reference is made to the following documents:
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- U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0031829 A1 entitled entitled “Multiwell Plate having Transparent Well Bottoms and Method for Making the Multiwell Plate”.
- U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,607 B2 entitled “Multiwell Plate having Transparent Well Bottoms”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/046,427 entitled “Multiwell Plate and Method for Making Multiwell Plate Using A Low Cytotoxicity Photocurable Adhesive”.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
2.4 Biosensor's Surface Attachment Chemistry.
As shown in
In the preferred embodiment, the tie layer can be made from aminopropylsilsesquioxane (APS) or gamma-aminopropylsilane (GAPS), where APS is deposited from a solution and GAPS is vapour deposited. The reactive polymer can be made from poly(ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) (“EMA”) or poly(methylvinylether-alt-maleic anhydride) (“MAMVE”). And, any compound that eliminates the unreacted groups from the top surface can be used as blockers such as ethaloamine and O,O′-bis(2-aminopropyl)polyethylene glycol 1900. This type of surface chemistry allows the binding of a wide range of targets 610 including but not limited to: small peptides, ligands to proteins, antibodies, enzymes, receptors and cells.
For a detailed description about surface attachment chemistry, reference is made to the following documents:
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- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/996,952 entitled “Polymer-Coated Substrates for Binding Biomolecules and Methods of Making and Using Thereof”.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/027,509 entitled “Method for Creating A Reference Region and a Sample Region on a Biosensor and the Resulting Biosensor”.
The contents of these documents are incorporated by reference herein.
2.5 Biosensor's Signal/Reference Areas.
In the preferred microplate 206, each well 610/biosensor 204 has a referencing area that is locally created by reacting the attachment chemistry with blocker molecules. The reference area is desired for several reasons. First, it allows the removal of effects from environmental changes such as temperature, background changes (e.g., differences in the index of refraction of the buffers), and repositioning changes caused by the removal and re-insertion of the microplate 206 into the optical reader 150. Second, it also allows the referencing of the non-specific binding of test compounds.
In the preferred embodiment, the referencing area is created by patterning the bottom of the well 610 with the blocker material. There are several possible contact or non-contact methods for patterning a well 610, for instance, one contact method is to pinprint the blocker material in the well 610. In addition, each well 610 can have any one of a number of different reference area pattern(s) such as: 1) left/right half blocked; 2) center of diffraction grating blocked; and 3) alternating stripes or squares of blocked areas. In either case, the pattering of the wells 610 should be arranged along the axis of the diffraction gratings 704 as shown in
For a detailed discussion about the creation and use of a reference region 1002, reference is made to the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/027,509. In addition, the following document describes several other types of self-referencing biosensors 204 that could be implemented in the present invention:
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- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/947,021 entitled “Self-Referencing Waveguide Grating Sensors”.
The contents of this document are incorporated by reference herein.
- U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/947,021 entitled “Self-Referencing Waveguide Grating Sensors”.
A description is provided next about how the screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c can be used to perform different types of measurement assays. However, prior to discussing several exemplary measurement assays a brief discussion is provided about the functionality of the main components in the screening system 100. Referring again to
The screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c function to optically interrogate the biosensors 204 located on the bottoms of the wells 610 in a microplate 206. In the preferred configuration, the screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c use a column of optical beams 202 to scan a row of wells 610/biosensors 204 in a moving microplate 206 (see
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- 3.1 Assay mode.
- 3.2 HTS mode.
3.1 Assay Mode
The screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c while functioning in the assay mode obtains in real time bio-chemical interaction data.
A more detailed description is provided next about how one can add the target 710 to the test microplate 206 and about how one can run the binding assay.
3.1a Adding Target 710:
The source microplate is first transferred to the source plate position in the measurement chamber 130 via the automated internal plate handling module 180a and 180b (see step 1104b). The test microplate 206 is also loaded in a measurement position in the measurement chamber 130. The source plate is then moved so it is located under the pipettor, the pipettor moves down to the source microplate and liquid is drawn up into the pipettor tips. Next, the test microplate 206 is moved so it is located under the pippettor, the pippettor moves down to the test microplate 206 and the fluid is transferred from the pipettor tips to the test microplate 206. The fluid handling devices 180a and 180b in the measurement system 130 also have the capability to mix the added fluid to the fluid already in the wells 610 of the test microplate 206 by drawing some amount the fluid volume back up into the pipettor tips and then re-depositing it into the wells 610 of the microplate 206. The mixing time can occur for as long as needed. The test microplate 206 is returned to the incubation chamber 110 to incubate (usually 30-90 minutes). After the target 710 has bound to the surface of the biosensors 204, the test microplate 206 moves under the pipettor, the pippettor moves down to the test microplate 206 and removes the remaining fluid with unbound target 710. Then, an index matched buffer is added to the wells 610 to dilute the remaining liquid in the wells 610. This is then removed. The aforementioned process is repeated until there is no free target 710 and only bound target 710 left in the wells 610 of the test microplate 206.
3.1b Running the Binding Assay.
A source microplate filled with a test compound(s) 708 is moved from the incubation chamber 110 to the source plate position in the measurement chamber 130 (see step 1114b). The test microplate 206 with the target 710 bound to the surface is moved to the test microplate position in the measurement chamber 130 (see step 1112b). The source microplate is moved under the pippettor tips and the pippettor tips move down to the source microplate so that the pipettor tips can be filled with the test compound(s) 708. Then, the test microplate 206 is moved to the measurement position. A baseline scan of the wells 610 with target 710 bound to the surface is taken (see step 1112b). After this, the pipettor is moved over the test microplate 206 and the test compounds 708 are added to the test microplate 206. The contents are mixed for some user controlled amount of time. The test microplate 206 which is located in the measurement position is then scanned (see step 1116b). After the scan, the contents of the wells 610 can again be mixed that the reaction is not diffusion limited. The mixing involves the drawing up of fluid into the pipettor tips and the squirting of the fluid back into the wells 610. The typical mixing time is about 6 minutes at the beginning of each assay. The binding signals as a function of time are obtained until the assay reaches completion. This time can range from 20 to 60 minutes, depending on the assay properties. This will limit the throughput rate of 384 well test microplates 206 to about 3000-10000 wells in an 8 hour period. However, this is not a problem since there are no set throughput requirements for the assay development mode.
An example of the data obtained from this type of assay development operation is shown in
3.1 HTS Mode.
The screening system 100 includes several components and features that together allow direct-binding, label-free assays to be executed in a high throughput capacity. In the HTS mode, it is important to realize that the microplates 206 in which the label-free, direct-bind assay are being executed cannot be left in the screening system 100 for the entire duration of the assay. Because, if the duration of a typical label-free, direct-bind assay (including compound addition, but not target immobilization) is 20 minutes, then the maximum possible rate is only ˜9,200 wells/8 hrs if the 384 well microplates 206 remain inside the screening system 100. This is well below the target rate of 40,000 wells/8 hrs which is defined herein as being high throughput. The screening system 100 can meet the 40,000 wells/8 hrs HTS goal by combining the end-point assays with the movement of 384 well microplates 206 into and out of the screening system 100.
To also help meet the desired HTS requirement, the screening system 100 can have several positions (park positions) that microplates 206 can be placed which puts them in the queue for the next step or measurement without requiring the full time it takes to move from the incubation chamber 110 to the measurement chamber 130. For instance, there can be one park position near the rotating arm in the load lock chamber 120 to handle microplates 206 coming into and going out of the screening system 100, and there can be another park position in the form of an additional carriage for moving the microplates 206 into and out of the measurement chamber 130.
As can be seen, to implement this HTS protocol, specific functions should be integrated into the screening system 100. These functions are:
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- A plate handling system for moving the microplate 206 into and out of the screening system 100.
- A plate-handling/data-point read cycle that has a duration that is shorter than the minimum required/allowed assay duration.
- A plate ID and data processing solution that allows end-point assay data to be tracked and calculated.
- A system implementation of the above three that allows plate multiplexing to achieve the target rate for the HTS.
Furthermore, the screening system 100 has additional components which are used to help execute the above described HTS protocol:
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- Microplate 206/sensors 204 with intra-well referencing to reference out any residual optical/mechanical alignment errors, sensor material drift, and environmental/thermodynamic induced drift.
- Optical/mechanical platform 400 that is insensitive to minor alignment perturbations due to plate in/out.
- Optical reader 150 and microplate subsystem design that allows both reference and signal regions of the biosensors 204 to be interrogated.
It should be noted that the screening system 100 described above is just one specific embodiment that can be used to execute these functions to enable the aforementioned HTS protocol. It should also be noted that this HTS protocol is not limited to just microplate based label-free assays, but it can be applied to other non-microplate based platforms as well (microarrays, etc.).
As mentioned above, the screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c may need to interact with external equipment like a high throughput screening (HTS) line to help implement this HTS protocol. A block diagram is provided in
A description is provided next about an exemplary protocol that was implemented by the screening system 100 to perform an assay that consisted of binding fluorescein biotin (831 Da) 708 to protein streptavidin (60 kDa) 710 which was immobilized at the bottom of selected wells 610 in a 384-well microplate 206. Although this protocol was designed for a full plate assay, any number of columns could be run to suit individual needs. This assay used interwell referencing for calculating the wavelength shift resulting from binding events. The steps used to perform the assay were as follows:
A. TEST PLATE PREPARATION (SEE FIG. 16)
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- 1) Add 15 μl of 50 μg/mL streptavidin in 20 mM acetate buffer, pH 5.5 into wells A-F, I, J, M, N of the microplate 206.
- 2) Add 15 μl of 20 mg/mL PEG-amine in 100 mM borate buffer, pH 9 into wells G, H, K, L, O, & P. These wells were used as negative controls.
- 3) Mix the solutions by aspiration and dispensing the solution repeatedly, incubate 20 minutes at room temperature, then mix again.
- 4) Remove the solutions from all wells and rinse with buffer repeatedly.
- 5) Add 20 μl of 200 mM ethanolamine in 150 mM borate buffer, pH 9.2 to all wells and mix. Remove and discard the solutions from all wells.
- 6) Add 20 μl of 200 mM ethanolamine in 150 mM borate buffer, pH 9.2 to all wells and mix. Incubate for 5 minutes, mix and rinse with buffer repeatedly.
- 7) Allow the plate to soak in PBS buffer for 4 hours prior to running the binding assay.
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- 1) Add 250 μl of 200 nM fluorescein biotin in 1×PBS to each well of a V-bottom 96-well microplate.
- 2) Cover the microplate with aluminum seal or a plastic lid to avoid evaporation; the cover was removed 30 minutes prior to performing the binding assay (see note 1 below).
Note 1: For optimal performance, the source and test plates should be docked in the screening system 100 and allowed to sit, uncovered, for 30 minutes to achieve thermal equilibrium prior to running the assay.
Note 2: Test plate is pre-filled with 15 μl of 1×PBS prior to docking the plate in the screening system 100.
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- 1) Take a baseline measurement of the microplate 206.
- 2) Add 15 ul of 200 nM fluorescein biotin.
- 3) Mix the solutions in the wells 610 by aspiration and dispensing
- 4) Measure the optical signal.
The shift in wavelength for each well 610 was calculated by taking the difference in response between an initial reading (at 200 sec) and a final reading (at 1200 sec). The data was then referenced (to correct for drift, bulk index of refraction effects, etc) by subtracting the average shift in wavelength for the control wells in each column, from each well in the column.
The screening system 100 operating in assay development mode running the above protocol for 13 plates provided a coefficient of variance of 7.9% over 3091 active wells, and 1872 reference wells. There were 59 wells rejected as outliers due values greater than 3 sigma from the mean response.
Following are some advantages, features and uses of the present invention:
1. The screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c can be used in more types of assays then HTS screening. It can be employed in any application where detection of biological binding is necessary. These other applications include but are not limited to diagnostics, food safety, and homeland security.
2. Label free detection compared to radioactive and fluorescence detection: HTS detection technologies in the prior art use either labels or color inducing compounds in a biochemical enzymatic reaction such as the ones used in ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assays). Fluorescent labels as well as labelling strategies have been developed that allow the detection of the interaction of a drug compound with a therapeutic target in HTS using either fluorescence intensity, fluorescence polarization, fluorescent resonant energy transfer including time resolved techniques. A review on these techniques was published (see A. J. Pope, et al. ‘Homogeneous fluorescence readouts for miniaturized HTS: theory and practice’, Drug Discovery Today, 4, 1999, 350). It is well known that the labels can be a source of artefacts that affect the reliability of the screening results. And, comparisons between labelling and detection strategies used in HTS showed significant differences in the number and nature of the identified ‘active’ compounds (e.g., M. A. Sills et al. ‘Comparison of Assay Technologies for a Tyrosine Kinase Assay Generates Different Results in HTS’, J. Biomolecular Screening, 7, 2002, 191). The label free detection method of the present invention also has an advantage over radioactive assays because there is none of the difficulty with respect to handling and disposal of the radioactive material.
3. Direct bind assays are possible: The use of labels usually prevents the detection of the direct interaction of a drug compound with the therapeutic target of interest because the labelling of the target may affect its biochemical activity. Assays for HTS are therefore designed as ‘functional’ assays in which a natural ligand or substrate (in the case of an enzyme) is labelled at least once and allowed to interact with the target hereby generating a negative or baseline signal. The interaction of the drug compound with the target or its ligand is detected via a change of this baseline signal. As can be seen, these functional assays for HTS are difficult to develop into robust and unambiguous screens. However, the label free HTS screening system 100 enables a simple assay in which the interaction of the compounds with the biomolecular therapeutic target alone is detected.
4. Sensitivity with low variability: The HTS screening system 100a, 100b and 100c are sensitive enough to detect direct interaction of compounds with large biomolecular targets immobilized on the surface of the biosensors in each well.
5. Intra-well referencing combined with plate in/out to allow end-point assays and plate multiplexing to achieve high throughput: HTS detection technologies and assay designs are usually based on end point readings during the detection step. The HTS screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c allows end point readings of 96 and 384 well microplates 206 including a base line reading prior to the incubation step in which compounds 708 are allowed to interact with the target 710 for a chosen amount of time without compromising the overall throughput.
6. Standard SBS format microplate compared to sensor chips: The HTS screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c uses SBS standard (ANSI/SBS 1 to 4-2004) sized microplates instead of specialty sensing chips. This is important since the specialty sensing chips have little or no compatibility with existing automated fluid handling and plate handling instrumentation.
7. Integration of standard fluid and plate handling units: The microplates and reader parts of the HTS screening system 100 can be integrated with a variety of fluid handling and plate handling instruments thereby increasing its modularity.
8. Assay development (real time) and HTS (end point) measurement modes possible on a single system: The screening systems 100a, 100b and 100c allows for a seamless operation between an assay development mode in which data can be acquired in real time (see
Although several embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A screening system comprising a measurement chamber and a plurality of automated instruments for athermalizing microplates, handling microplates, positioning/repositioning microplates and performing end-point measurements to implement a measurement protocol that enables label-free detection of biomolecular interactions which take place on biosensors located in wells of at least one microplate.
2. The screening system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of automated instruments for fluid dispensing and fluid mixing in the wells of the at least one microplate.
3. The screening system of claim 2, further comprising a computer that operatively controls said plurality of automated instruments.
4. The screening system of claim 3, wherein said computer executes a label-free high throughput screening protocol to interrogate the at least one microplate by combining baseline and end-point assays with the movement of the at least one microplate into and out of a measurement nest in said measurement chamber.
5. The screening system of claim 3, wherein said computer executes an assay development protocol to perform semi-continuous measurements on said at least one microplate.
6. The screening system of claim 1, wherein said at least one microplate each has fiducial markings thereon which are used to properly position/reposition said at least one microplate in said measurement chamber.
7. The screening system of claim 1, further comprises a device that interacts with an external high throughput system line, said device including:
- a rotating arm;
- a drawer;
- a lifter;
- a gripper;
- a carriage;
- a rail; or
- a conveyor.
8. The screening system of claim 1, wherein each biosensor has a signal area and a reference area.
9. The screening system of claim 1, wherein each biosensor has surface attachment chemistry on a surface thereof to bind a therapeutic target.
10. The screening system of claim 1, wherein each biosensor is a resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensor.
11. The screening system of claim 1, wherein said automated instrument for athermalizing microplates is an athermalization buffer.
12. The screening system of claim 1, wherein said automated instrument for handling microplates is:
- a rotating arm;
- a plate carriage;
- a gripper;
- a lifter; and/or
- a conveyor system.
13. The screening system of claim 1, wherein said automated instrument for positioning/repositioning microplates is:
- a microplate handling module; and/or
- an X-Y support stage.
14. The screening system of claim 1, wherein said automated instrument for performing end-point measurements is an optical interrogation system.
15. A method for performing a label-free assay, said method comprising the steps of:
- athermalizing a plurality of microplates;
- moving, in accordance with a measurement protocol, at least one of the microplates into and out of a measurement chamber;
- positioning/repositioning, in accordance with the measurement protocol, at least one of the microplates within the measurement chamber;
- performing base-line measurements and end-point measurements, in accordance with the measurement protocol, on at least one of the microplates to enable label-free detection of biomolecular interactions that take place on biosensors within the wells of said at least one of the microplates.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein said measurement protocol is a high throughput screening protocol which enables the interrogation of a plurality of microplates by combining baseline and endpoint measurements with the movement of the microplates into and out of the screening system.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein said measurement protocol is an assay development protocol which is used to perform semi-continuous measurements on said at least one of the microplates.
18. A screening system comprising a measurement chamber and a computer that controls a plurality of automated instruments for athermalizing microplates, handling microplates, dispensing fluid in microplates, mixing fluid in microplates, positioning/repositioning microplates and performing end-point measurements to implement a measurement protocol that enables label-free detection of biomolecular interactions which take place on biosensors located in wells of at least one microplate.
19. The screening system of claim 18, wherein said computer executes a label-free high throughput screening protocol to interrogate a plurality of the microplates by combining baseline and end-point assays with the movement of the microplates into and out of a measurement nest in said measurement chamber.
20. The screening system of claim 17, wherein said computer executes an assay development protocol to perform semi-continuous measurements on said at least one of the microplates.
21. A screening system that includes a measurement chamber/optical interrogation system and automated instruments that function together to perform end-point assays, with microplate moving in/out, and with microplate multiplexing to execute a label-free high throughput screening protocol in order detect label-free biomolecular interactions which take place on biosensors located in wells of at least one microplate.
22. The screening system of claim 21, wherein each biosensor is a resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensor.
23. A screening system that includes a measurement chamber/optical interrogation system and automated instruments that are capable of operating in an assay development mode and screening a predetermined number of label-free biosensors located within wells of a microplate with a coefficient of variance less than 7.9%.
24. The screening system of claim 23, wherein each biosensor is a resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensor.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 19, 2006
Publication Date: Jan 25, 2007
Inventors: Stephen Caracci (Elmira, NY), Volker Eckelt (Jena), Anthony Frutos (Painted Post, NY), Mark Krol (Painted Post, NY), Thomas Moore (Jena), David Pastel (Horseheads, NY), Gordon Shedd (Lawrenceville, PA)
Application Number: 11/489,173
International Classification: C40B 30/06 (20070101); G01N 33/53 (20060101); G06F 19/00 (20060101); C12M 1/34 (20060101);