High-throughput and
high-content screening of large chemical libraries is a proven way to identify
novel small molecules that target and modulate disease-associated biological
systems and phenotypes. The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) Drug
Discovery Centre for Childhood Cancer, located within Children’s Cancer
Institute Australia (CCIA) at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre in Sydney, was
established to provide the infrastructure and know-how for small molecule
screening to the cancer research community. The Drug Discovery Centre has been
in operation for three years and, in that time, has completed several screening
projects in childhood and adult cancer cell-based assays using diversity, known
bioactive and targeted chemical compound libraries. The Centre operates on a subsidised
fee-for-service basis and provides expertise and assistance in scaling assays
for high-throughput and robotic screening, isolating chemical compounds that
affect specific cancer cellular activities and providing researchers with small
molecule hits to be used in further drug development or as biological tools. In
this poster, we outline the different drug discovery services available and
highlight actual case studies of successful small- and large-scale screening
projects performed within the Centre. It is the goal of this facility to
provide the cancer research community with state-of-the-art technology for
discovering new therapeutics and tools for better understanding cancer biology.