High-content screening in infectious diseases

The last decade has seen the development of automated microscopy and its adaptation for various areas of research, particularly infectious disease. Most of the high-content screening (HCS) platforms now integrate all of the following necessary steps: automated pipettes for assay miniaturization in 384-well plates, automated image acquisition and data storage and analysis. HCS was initially associated with RNA interference genetic screens for identifying host factors involved in host–pathogen interactions. More recently, both in academia and in industry, HCS has been adapted for drug discovery purposes. High-content analysis enables intracellular tracking of viral particles to profile the antiviral mechanisms of each compound. Adaptation to high-throughput screening in bacteriology and parasitology has already led to the discovery of new types of host-specific inhibitors that differ from those inhibitors that act directly on microbes.