| 1. |
- Aftab, Obaid, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Detection of cell aggregation and altered cell viability by automated label-free video microscopy : A promising alternative to endpoint viability assays in high throughput screening
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Biomolecular Screening. - : Elsevier BV. - 1087-0571 .- 1552-454X. ; 20:3, s. 372-381
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Automated phase-contrast video microscopy now makes it feasible to monitor a high-throughput (HT) screening experiment in a 384-well microtiter plate format by collecting one time-lapse video per well. Being a very cost-effective and label-free monitoring method, its potential as an alternative to cell viability assays was evaluated. Three simple morphology feature extraction and comparison algorithms were developed and implemented for analysis of differentially time-evolving morphologies (DTEMs) monitored in phase-contrast microscopy videos. The most promising layout, pixel histogram hierarchy comparison (PHHC), was able to detect several compounds that did not induce any significant change in cell viability, but made the cell population appear as spheroidal cell aggregates. According to recent reports, all these compounds seem to be involved in inhibition of platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) signaling. Thus, automated quantification of DTEM (AQDTEM) holds strong promise as an alternative or complement to viability assays in HT in vitro screening of chemical compounds.
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| 2. |
- Aftab, Obaid, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Label-free detection and dynamic monitoring of drug-induced intracellular vesicle formation enabled using a 2-dimensional matched filter
- 2014
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Ingår i: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8627 .- 1554-8635. ; 10:1, s. 57-69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Analysis of vesicle formation and degradation is a central issue in autophagy research and microscopy imaging is revolutionizing the study of such dynamic events inside living cells. A limiting factor is the need for labeling techniques that are labor intensive, expensive, and not always completely reliable. To enable label-free analyses we introduced a generic computational algorithm, the label-free vesicle detector (LFVD), which relies on a matched filter designed to identify circular vesicles within cells using only phase-contrast microscopy images. First, the usefulness of the LFVD is illustrated by presenting successful detections of autophagy modulating drugs found by analyzing the human colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116 exposed to each substance among 1266 pharmacologically active compounds. Some top hits were characterized with respect to their activity as autophagy modulators using independent in vitro labeling of acidic organelles, detection of LC3-II protein, and analysis of the autophagic flux. Selected detection results for 2 additional cell lines (DLD1 and RKO) demonstrate the generality of the method. In a second experiment, label-free monitoring of dose-dependent vesicle formation kinetics is demonstrated by recorded detection of vesicles over time at different drug concentrations. In conclusion, label-free detection and dynamic monitoring of vesicle formation during autophagy is enabled using the LFVD approach introduced.
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| 3. |
- Aftab, Obaid, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Label free high throughput screening for apoptosis inducing chemicals using time-lapse microscopy signal processing
- 2014
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Ingår i: Apoptosis (London). - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1360-8185 .- 1573-675X. ; 19:9, s. 1411-1418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Label free time-lapse microscopy has opened a new avenue to the study of time evolving events in living cells. When combined with automated image analysis it provides a powerful tool that enables automated large-scale spatiotemporal quantification at the cell population level. Very few attempts, however, have been reported regarding the design of image analysis algorithms dedicated to the detection of apoptotic cells in such time-lapse microscopy images. In particular, none of the reported attempts is based on sufficiently fast signal processing algorithms to enable large-scale detection of apoptosis within hours/days without access to high-end computers. Here we show that it is indeed possible to successfully detect chemically induced apoptosis by applying a two-dimensional linear matched filter tailored to the detection of objects with the typical features of an apoptotic cell in phase-contrast images. First a set of recorded computational detections of apoptosis was validated by comparison with apoptosis specific caspase activity readouts obtained via a fluorescence based assay. Then a large screen encompassing 2,866 drug like compounds was performed using the human colorectal carcinoma cell line HCT116. In addition to many well known inducers (positive controls) the screening resulted in the detection of two compounds here reported for the first time to induce apoptosis.
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| 4. |
- Aftab, Obaid, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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Label free quantification of time evolving morphologies using time-lapse video microscopy enables identity control of cell lines and discovery of chemically induced differential activity in iso-genic cell line pairs
- 2015
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Ingår i: Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems. - 0169-7439 .- 1873-3239. ; 141, s. 24-32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Label free time-lapse video microscopy based monitoring of time evolving cell population morphology has potential to offer a simple and cost effective method for identity control of cell lines. Such morphology monitoring also has potential to offer discovery of chemically induced differential changes between pairs of cell lines of interest, for example where one in a pair of cell lines is normal/sensitive and the other malignant/resistant. A new simple algorithm, pixel histogram hierarchy comparison (PHHC), for comparison of time evolving morphologies (TEM) in phase contrast time-lapse microscopy movies was applied to a set of 10 different cell lines and three different iso-genic colon cancer cell line pairs, each pair being genetically identical except for a single mutation. PHHC quantifies differences in morphology by comparing pixel histogram intensities at six different resolutions. Unsupervised clustering and machine learning based classification methods were found to accurately identify cell lines, including their respective iso-genic variants, through time-evolving morphology. Using this experimental setting, drugs with differential activity in iso-genic cell line pairs were likewise identified. Thus, this is a cost effective and expedient alternative to conventional molecular profiling techniques and might be useful as part of the quality control in research incorporating cell line models, e.g. in any cell/tumor biology or toxicology project involving drug/agent differential activity in pairs of cell line models.
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| 5. |
- Aftab, Obaid, 1984-, et al.
(författare)
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NMR spectroscopy based metabolic profiling of drug induced changes in vitro can discriminate between pharmacological classes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of chemical information and modeling. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9596 .- 1549-960X. ; 54:11, s. 3251-3258
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Drug induced changes in mammalian cell line models have already been extensively profiled at the systemic mRNA level and subsequently used to suggest mechanisms of action for new substances as well as to support drug repurposing, i.e. identifying new potential indications for drugs already licensed for other pharmacotherapy settings. The seminal work in this field, which includes a large database and computational algorithms for pattern matching, is known as the “Connectivity Map” (CMap). The potential of similar exercises at the metabolite level is, however, still largely unexplored. Only recently the first high throughput metabolomic assay pilot study was published, involving screening of metabolic response to a set of 56 kinase inhibitors in a 96-well format. Here we report results from a separately developed metabolic profiling assay, which leverages 1H NMR spectroscopy to the quantification of metabolic changes in the HCT116 colorectal cancer cell line, in response to each of 26 compounds. These agents are distributed across 12 different pharmacological classes covering a broad spectrum of bioactivity. Differential metabolic profiles, inferred from multivariate spectral analysis of 18 spectral bins, allowed clustering of most tested drugs according to their respective pharmacological class. A more advanced supervised analysis, involving one multivariate scattering matrix per pharmacological class and using only 3 spectral bins (three metabolites), showed even more distinct pharmacology-related cluster formations. In conclusion, this kind of relatively fast and inexpensive profiling seems to provide a promising alternative to that afforded by mRNA expression analysis, which is relatively slow and costly. As also indicated by the present pilot study, the resulting metabolic profiles do not seem to provide as information rich signatures as those obtained using systemic mRNA profiling, but the methodology holds strong promise for significant refinement.
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| 6. |
- Alderborn, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Genetically modified plants for non-food or non-feed purposes : straightforward screening for their appearance in food and feed
- 2010
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Ingår i: Food and Chemical Toxicology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0278-6915 .- 1873-6351. ; 48:2, s. 453-464
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetically modified (GM) plants aimed at producing food/feed are part of regular agriculture in many areas of the World. Commodity plants have also found application as bioreactors, designated non-food/non-feed GM (NFGM) plants, thereby making raw material for further refinement to industrial, diagnostic or pharmaceutical preparations. Many among them may pose health challenge to consumers or livestock animals, if occurring in food/feed. NFGM plants are typically released into the environment, but are grown under special oversight and any among several containment practices, none of which provide full protection against accidental dispersal. Adventitious admixture with food or feed can occur either through distributional mismanagement or as a consequence of gene flow to plant relatives. To facilitate NFGM surveillance we propose a new mandatory tagging of essentially all such plants, prior to cultivation or marketing in the European Union. The suggested tag--Plant-Made Industrial or Pharmaceutical Products Tag (PMIP-T)--is envisaged to occur as a transgenic silent DNA identifier in host plants and designed to enable technically simple identification and characterisation of any NFGM. Implementation of PMIP-T would permit inexpensive, reliable and high-throughput screening for NFGM specifically. The paper outlines key NFGM prospects and challenges as well as the PMIP-T concept.
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| 7. |
- Chantzi, Efthymia
(författare)
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Algorithmic discovery, development and personalized selection of higher-order drug cocktails : A label-free live-cell imaging & secretomics approach
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- An upward trend in clinical pharmacology is the use of multiple drugs to combat complex and co-occurring diseases due to better efficacy, decreased toxicity and reduced risk of evolving resistance. Despite high late-stage attrition rates and the need for multi drug treatments, most drug discovery and development efforts are still mainly focused on new one-size-fits-all monotherapies. This is unfortunate given the complex, heterogeneous and often only partially understood pathophysiology of many diseases. In this context, polypharmacotherapies hold strong potential, especially when patient tailored. However, as of today, the personalized combination therapy area remains vastly unexplored. A major reason is lack of standardized and robust tools that allow systematic in vitro drug combination sensitivity testing of different disease models and patient derived cells.This thesis fills in this lack by introducing two methodological frameworks, namely COMBImageDL and COMBSecretomics, designed to enable systematic second- and higher-order drug combination studies within and beyond cancer pharmacology. They include advanced quality control procedures, non-parametric resampling statistics to quantify uncertainty and a data driven methodology to evaluate response patterns and discern higher- from lower- and single-drug effects. Both are based on a standardized and reproducible format that could be employed with any experimental platform that provides the required raw data. COMBImageDL searches exhaustively for drug cocktails that induce changes in cell viability and time evolving cell culture morphology by employing conventional endpoint synergy analyses jointly with quantitative label-free live-cell imaging. Deep neural network learning, MapReduce parallel processing and method-specific parameter tuning are key components of the design. The purely phenotypic functionality of COMBImageDL is extended by COMBSecretomics, which searches exhaustively for drug cocktails that can modify, or even reverse malfunctioning secretomic patterns. It processes complex datasets involving drug treated cells observed before and after being stimulated by relevant proteins. Finally, the highest single agent method is generalized for higher-order drug combination analysis and adjusted for secreted protein profiles.The frameworks were used in five pharmacological studies being industrial, academic and clinical collaborations in areas where novel and personalized multi drug regimens are highly needed; oncology (acute myeloid leukemia and glioblastoma multiforme) and osteoarthritis. These studies demonstrate intriguing drug combination findings and in general the great potential of tools like COMBImageDL and COMBSecretomics to accelerate the discovery and development of novel potent polypharmacotherapeutic candidates.
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| 8. |
- Chantzi, Efthymia, et al.
(författare)
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Exhaustive in vitro evaluation of the 9-drug cocktail CUSP9 for treatment of glioblastoma using COMBImageDL
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Ingår i: Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. - 1535-7163 .- 1538-8514.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The CUSP9 protocol (aprepitant, auranofin, captopril, celecoxib, disulfiram, itraconazole, minocycline, quetiapine, sertraline) is currently undergoing a clinical trial as add-on treatment to standard-of-care temozolomide for recurrent glioblastoma. Although the theoretical repurposing rationale of this 9-drug cocktail is well defined, there is no in vitro experimental data yet supporting its superiority over all its plausible subsets. Such an exhaustive in vitro evaluation may provide preliminary evidence of whether only a fraction of all 9 drugs is needed to achieve an equivalent or even higher effect. Such information could be further used to guide and optimize individualized glioblastoma therapy selection both in terms of efficacy and adverse effects.Here, we employed COMBImageDL, a deep learning improved version of our recently developed COMBImage2 framework, to design, perform and analyze an exhaustive in vitro experiment of the CUSP9 protocol. More specifically, all 511 plausible subsets were evaluated as add-on treatment to temozolomide on a drug resistant glioblastoma cell line (M059K), by combining endpoint cell viability analysis and quantitative live-cell imaging. The experiment was performed in quadruplicate (eight 384-well plates, > 100GB of image data). Fixed clinically achievable concentrations were used for all drugs.Our results suggest that only disulfiram from the CUSP9 cocktail is required, together with temozolomide, in order to induce major changes in cell viability, confluence and morphology. Only slightly increased effects were observed by a few unique higher-order subsets of the CUSP9 protocol, which also contained disulfiram. This finding indicates that for the particular glioblastoma cell line used, the whole CUSP9 protocol could in principle be replaced solely with disulfiram. Notably, it may be worth testing in vitro the few slightly more potent higher-order subsets on primary patient derived glioblastoma cells. This work demonstrates the feasibility and potential of performing exhaustive in vitro evaluation of higher-order drug cocktails prior to subsequent assessment for clinical use. Although the experimental in vitro disease models are not optimal, they can still pinpoint which among all plausible subsets should be further considered. From a personalized therapy selection perspective, in vitro sensitivity testing of primary patient derived tumor cells could thereby advance from the current practice based on single drugs and only cytotoxicity readouts to also include higher-order drug cocktails and quantitative live-cell imaging.
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| 9. |
- Edberg, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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Assessing Relative Bioactivity of Chemical Substances Using Quantitative Molecular Network Topology Analysis
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1549-9596 .- 1549-960X. ; 52:5, s. 1238-1249
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Structurally different chemical substances may cause similar systemic effects in mammalian cells. It is therefore necessary to go beyond structural comparisons to quantify similarity in terms of their bioactivities. In this work, we introduce a generic methodology to achieve this on the basis of Network Biology principles and using publicly available molecular network topology information. An implementation of this method, denoted QuantMap, is outlined and applied to antidiabetic drugs, NSAIDs, 17 beta-estradiol, and 12 substances known to disrupt estrogenic pathways. The similarity of any pair of compounds is derived from topological comparison of intracellular protein networks, directly and indirectly associated with the respective query chemicals, via a straightforward pairwise comparison of ranked proteins. Although output derived from straightforward chemical/structural similarity analysis provided some guidance on bioactivity, QuantMap produced substance interrelationships that align well with reports on their respective perturbation properties. We believe that QuantMap has potential to provide substantial assistance to drug repositioning, pharmacology evaluation, and toxicology risk assessment.
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| 10. |
- Hammerling, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
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Comparative hazard characterization in food toxicology
- 2009
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Ingår i: Critical reviews in food science and nutrition. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1040-8398 .- 1549-7852. ; 49:7, s. 626-669
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Historically, different approaches have been adopted for comparing and characterizing hazards that can be found in the very complex mixture of substances present in food. In this review a variety of prominent risk assessment models are evaluated in the context of food safety. In their current state of refinement, though, they show limited applicability for comparative hazard characterization and impact magnitude scoring of adverse effects of substances in food. Nonetheless, some existing models hold building blocks and modelling concepts that appear promising for further development and integration. Thus, a new, dedicated, and generally accepted model is needed that is capable of generating relevant "Impact Magnitude Score" (IMS) values for comparing potentially toxic substances in food. A brief outline of requirements for a model (Guided Toxicology-assessment of Health Impact; GTHI) is presented that considers "severity" (S), "duration" (D), and "proportion of population affected" (P). An important demand on such a model is to provide significantly improved food safety evaluation amenable to regulatory agencies and consumers. This review is based on a project entitled "Promoting food safety through a new integrated risk analysis approach for foods" (acronym: "SAFE FOODS") that is under the subsidy of the European Commission.
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