Maintaining and controlling cell shape, cell movement, cytokinesis and the organization of organelles is one of the most basic functions of the cell. Because change in these features is often the consequence of cellular differentiation, cellular toxicity, pathology or other critical cellular event or signaling, their measurement against potential therapeutic targets can be critical. The cytoskeleton is typically composed of microfilaments, microtubules, and intermediate filaments in the cell and plays a key role in the morphological change of cells. The cytoskeleton also facilitates proper function of other cellular proteins through direct binding, transporting, repositioning and sequestering these proteins. For certain cell types such as neurons, this morphological change of the cell is indispensable to gain the proper function in the tissue.
Fluorescence microscopy and imaging, the basis of High Content Screening (HCS) provides both intensity as well as spatial information of the fluorescently-labeled constituents that are imaged and quantitatively analyzed. Spatial information, such as cell shape and morphology, sizes and arrangements of intracellular constituents, and the arrangement and location of cells relative to each other, can all be obtained from fluorescence microscopy and HCS. Other cell-based fluorescence assay methods such as flow cytometry, FLIPR, and homogeneous fluorescence signals in plate readers cannot provide this type of high-content data.
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