Cell Painting

The Cell Painting assay is a high-content, high-throughput imaging technique used to capture a wide array of cellular phenotypes in response to diverse perturbations. These phenotypes, often termed "morphological profiles", can be used to understand various biological phenomena, including cellular responses to genetic changes, drug treatments, and other environmental changes. This has been adopted by many pharmaceutical companies in profiling compounds including Recursion Pharmaceutical and AstraZeneca

Methodology
In the Cell Painting assay, cells are stained with six fluorescent dyes that mark different cellular compartments, including nuclei, cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, mitochondria, and actin. High-resolution images are then captured using automated fluorescence microscopy, and image analysis algorithms are applied to extract thousands of morphological features. These features form the basis of the morphological profile for each perturbation.

Applications
Given its ability to capture a wide array of cellular responses, the Cell Painting assay has become a powerful tool in the field of drug discovery. By comparing the morphological profiles of cells treated with different compounds, researchers can identify potential drug candidates, toxicity or understand the mechanism of action of existing drugs. In combination with genetic perturbations, the assay can be used to determine the function of genes or to understand the underlying mechanisms of genetic diseases. By observing how cells from disease models differ in their morphological profiles from healthy cells, researchers can gain insights into disease mechanisms and potential therapeutic interventions.

Limitations and Challenges
While the Cell Painting assay offers a wealth of information, it's not without its challenges. The high dimensionality of the data requires sophisticated computational tools for analysis. Additionally, the interpretation of morphological profiles in terms of underlying biology can sometimes be non-trivial. With advancements in imaging technology and machine learning, the resolution and depth of morphological profiles are expected to increase, allowing for even more detailed insights into cellular biology. Additionally, as the scientific community continues to generate data using the Cell Painting assay, there's a push towards creating shared repositories to facilitate collaborative research and data-driven discoveries.

Notable Scientists and Contributions

 * Anne E. Carpenter
 * Shantanu Singh
 * Beth A Cimini

Notable Works

 * 1) Bray, Mark-Anthony; Singh, Shantanu; Han, Han; Davis, Chadwick T; Borgeson, Blake; Hartland, Cathy; Kost-Alimova, Maria; Gustafsdottir, Sigrun M; Gibson, Christopher C; Carpenter, Anne E (2016-08-25). "Cell Painting, a high-content image-based assay for morphological profiling using multiplexed fluorescent dyes". Nature Protocols. 11 (9): 1757–1774. doi:10.1038/nprot.2016.105. ISSN 1754-2189.