PgmNr Z6021: Vanderbilt Phenotypic Discovery Resource:Screening, Discovery, Crowdsourcing.

Authors:
C. H. Williams 1 ; C. C. Hong 1,2


Institutes
1) Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; 2) Vanderbilt Univ. Med. Ctr., Nashville, TN.


Abstract:

Phenotypic changes are the ultimate cause of disease, whether the molecular pathology is multigenic, congenital, acquired or multifactorial. The result is that there are likely multiple modes to any given “treatment”. Viability is the first phenotype observed in any organism, and arises from a complex interplay of signaling molecules across multiple cell and tissue types. Defects in these functional units form the basis of the phenotypic changes that result in disease.  Phenotypic screening in zebrafish presents numerous advantages, including low cost, genetic tractability, aqueous drug delivery, and the biological in vivo features that preselect for favorable properties such as selectivity, target engagement and bioavailability.  Here we describe a resource of compounds being screened that modulate critical nodes during embryonic development. These compounds will be associated into a chemotype-phenotype database that is publically available in an effort to crowd source discovery through the various stages of early drug development.