Viability assay for Dictyostelium for use in drug studies

摘要

The eukaryotic cells of Dictyostelium discoideum are widely used for studies in cellular and molecular biology. The organism has been especially useful for elucidating the molecular mechanisms that underlie cell motility and chemotaxis. Recently, D. discoideum has taken on an important new role in investigations of resistance to anticancer drugs and the discovery of new drug targets. For example, it has been used to identify novel genetic pathways involved in the response to cisplatin (4), and its endogenous morphogen differentiation-inducing factor-1 (DIF-1) has been identified as an antileukemic agent. Several features make this organism ideal for these studies, including (i) its well-studied biology and haploid genome, which is almost completely sequenced; (ii) the ability to do homologous gene replacement and random insertional mutagenesis; (iii) the ease and low cost of culture (compared to animal cells) and rapid doubling time; and (iv) its high level of genetic conservation with humans.