Workshop Instructors:
Jen Liou, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine
Jason Myers, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine

Silencing of gene expression by RNA inference (RNAi) has become a powerful tool for drug target discovery. It provides a simple, fast and cost-effective alternative to anti-sense and gene knockout techniques to create loss-of-function phenotypes and study gene functions. Large-scale RNAi screening has successfully identified potential therapeutic targets including STIM sensors and CRAC channels that are important for store-operated calcium entry. In mammalian cells small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) induce sequence-specific gene silencing by exploiting the endogenous RNAi pathway. Several types of siRNA libraries are available for high-throughput functional genomic screens for drug discovery.

You Will Learn:

• The mechanisms of RNAi-mediated post-transcriptional gene silencing
• The advantages and disadvantages of various siRNA approaches
• Case studies on identification of genes involved in phenotypes of interest using high-throughput siRNA screening in human cells
• Approaches for validating siRNA screening results

Workshop Instructor:
Ryan McGuinness, Senior Application Scientist, MDS Analytical Technologies

In recent years, the incorporation of cell based assays in the early, high throughput phases of drug discovery has undergone a dramatic increase. This is largely driven by the fact that such assays yield data that more accurately model the complex biological states of receptor targets than biochemical assays. Additionally, these assays provide economy, convenience and throughput unattainable in in vivo studies. As part of this growing trend, label free cell based assays are being adopted at growing rates and offer many advantages to biomolecular screening including simplified assay development and access to more biorelevant data early in the drug discovery lifecycle. Here we will review a number of the currently available technologies and discuss their application, advantages and disadvantages to drug discovery efforts.

You Will Learn:

• The label-free cell based assay technologies currently available
• Label-free's placement in the drug discovery process
• Advantages and disadvantages of adopting label-free assays
• Example data from case studies to illustrate the utility of label-free assays
• Future directions of these technologies

Workshop Instructor:
Alan S. Waggoner, Ph.D., Director, Molecular Biosensors & Imaging Center, Carnegie Melon University

Over the past 10 years fluorescence has become a dominant detection technology in high throughput and cell-based (high content) drug discovery. While fluorescence is a very powerful detection technology many aspects are relatively complicated. The basis of the technology must be well understood to be used properly. Creation of new assay formats requires even more sophistication. This workshop aims to provide a good understanding of the technology, examples of its use and projections into future developments.

You Will Learn:

• Understanding the fundamental basis of fluorescence detection
• Understanding relative advantages and limitations of fluorescence detection
• Exposure to several representative fluorescence based assays
• Understanding possible future directions of high throughput and high content fluorescence-based assays.