Bullen Andrew
Biological Imaging Development Center, 513 Parnassus Avenue, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0511, USA.
Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2008 Jan;7(1):54-67. doi: 10.1038/nrd2446.
Microscopic imaging can enhance the drug discovery process by helping to describe how disease processes unfold and how potential therapies might intervene. Recently introduced technologies, and enhancements to existing techniques, are addressing technical issues that have limited the usefulness of microscopic imaging in the past. In particular, these innovations are improving spatial resolution, increasing tissue penetration, overcoming physical access issues and enhancing experimental throughput. Notable recent trends, which are discussed in this article, include the development of super-resolution microscopes, the incorporation of multiphoton techniques into intravital and fibre-optic microscopy and the automation of microscopy and image analysis for high-content screening. Together, these developments are augmenting the existing assays and disease models that are used in early drug discovery and, in some cases, enabling new ones.
显微成像可以通过帮助描述疾病过程如何展开以及潜在疗法可能如何干预来加强药物发现过程。最近引入的技术以及对现有技术的改进，正在解决过去限制显微成像实用性的技术问题。特别是，这些创新正在提高空间分辨率、增加组织穿透深度、克服物理通路问题并提高实验通量。本文讨论的近期显著趋势包括超分辨率显微镜的发展、将多光子技术纳入活体和光纤显微镜以及用于高内涵筛选的显微镜和图像分析自动化。这些发展共同增强了早期药物发现中使用的现有检测方法和疾病模型，在某些情况下还催生了新的方法和模型。
