System and method for high-content oncology assay
View Patent ↗The present invention provides an apparatus, system, method and computer program and computer program product for analyzing cellular samples. One embodiment of the apparatus and method provides a multiparameter assay that provides information with respect to cell proliferation, cell cycling and cell death. The multiparameter assay is particularly useful for assessing and screening candidate compounds for anti-cancer utility.
1. A method comprising:
comparing total nuclear brightness to standard deviation of nuclear brightness of a cell to produce a coordinate, and
determining the cell cycle phase of said cell using said coordinate.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining comprises filtering said coordinate.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said determining comprises filtering said coordinate through a plurality of filters, each of which defines coordinates corresponding to specific phases of the cell cycle.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining includes plotting said coordinate on a graph showing total nuclear brightness verses standard deviation of nuclear brightness of a population of cells.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said cell is a cell of a population of cells.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said method further comprises contacting said cell with a candidate agent prior to said comparing.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said cell is stained.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein said cell is stained with a luminescent molecule that binds DNA.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said method is computer implemented.
10. A method comprising:
a) contacting population of cells with candidate agent;
b) analyzing cells of said population by:
i. comparing total nuclear brightness of a cell to standard deviation of nuclear brightness of said cell to produce a coordinate, and
ii. determining the cell cycle phase of said cell using said coordinate; and
c) detecting cells that have altered cell cycle phase.
11. A computer storage medium comprising:
computer executable instructions for:
comparing total nuclear brightness to standard deviation of nuclear brightness of a cell to produce a coordinate, and
determining the cell cycle phase of said cell using said coordinate.
12. A computer comprising a computer storage medium comprising computer executable instructions for:
comparing total nuclear brightness to standard deviation of nuclear brightness of a cell to produce a coordinate, and
determining the cell cycle phase of said cell using said coordinate.