JALA Special Issue: High-Throughput Imaging

Abstract

EditorialOn behalf of the Journal of Laboratory Automation (JALA), I am pleased to present this special issue on advancements in imaging technology that improve both clinical and research-based imaging needs, particularly focusing on advancements that integrate automation and high throughput into traditional and emerging imaging applications.Ever since Antonj van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke began using microscopes to study biological samples, advancements in imaging technology have been fundamentally linked to the advancement of life sciences research and medical diagnosis and treatments.1 Scientific imaging technologies now cover a wide range of technologies and applications following a number of key advancements such as the invention of magnetic resonance imaging and the invention of monoclonal antibody hybridomas. 2,3 In recent years, advances in micro/nanotechnology and digital imaging quantification have led to the development of high-throughput, automated imaging applications in both the laboratory and the clinic. This issue features several reports that highlight these advancements and demonstrate how advances in imaging can improve life sciences research and drug development as well as how clinicians diagnose and treat patients. Advances in Imaging Technology in Life Sciences ResearchImaging technology has transformed the ability of life sciences researchers to interrogate cellular processes in ever increasing detail and efficiency. In particular, Förster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) is an imaging technique that has allowed researchers to quantify and study changes in molecular structure and conformation as well as intermolecular interactions such as protein-protein, protein-nucleic acid, or protein-small-molecule interactions. [4][5][6] FRET involves the transfer of energy from donors to acceptors to alter the fluorescence ratio between donors and acceptors that can be used to image and quantify molecular changes.One of the most common methods of quantification of FRET activity involves the determination of fluorescence lifetime, such as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), which detects the decay of energy from the donor molecule as it continues to interact with the acceptor molecule. FLIM is useful in the study of protein-protein interactions in the context of live cells, particularly in response to cellular stimuli such as toxins, drugs, and activation of specific signaling pathways. 7Advances in automated microscopy as well as integration of automated image capture and image analysis have allowed for the development of high-throughput FLIM-FRET microscopy to quickly quantify protein-protein interaction in cells. 8 The addition of automation to FLIM-FRET microscopy allows researchers to quickly interrogate within a single slide or multiwell plate multiple samples or multiple cellular processes in a high-throughput manner. This will be useful in systems biology studies such as predictive chemogenomics that can correlate phenotypic drug response to key genomic alteratio...