ForceBiology

Mechanical cues play crucial role in cell function such as migration, proliferation, invasion and contraction. Cellular forces can be used for discovering and assessing the effects of new drugs but has been left largely unexplored, mainly due to lack of HTS and quantitative assays. Despite knowledge of their significance in disease, drug developers have had limited access to force-generating assays, especially in the context of high-throughput screening. Presently there are few in vitro platforms available on the market for measuring migration and contractility on a platform with reduced cost and complexity. Therefore, there is pressing need to develop and explore cellular forces to investigate, screen and discover new drug compounds in high throughput manner. Research has shown that mechanical cues and contractility can dictate the fate of a human cell. In cardiovascular disease (CVD), mechanical cues give rises to stiffening of the cellular microenvironment causing life threatening conditions such as hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. According to WHO, 4 out of 5 CVD deaths, can be attributable to heart attacks and strokes. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) comprise the mechanically active component of the blood vessel wall endowing it with the ability to constrict and dilate. To evaluate the viability of a muscle tissue, it is essential to measure the tissue's contractile performance as well as to control its structure. Accurate contractility data can aid in development of more effective and safer drugs. the processes of contractile force generation and transmission play an important function role in defining the mechanical efficiency of VSMCs. Today there are no tools on the market to quantify the contractile forces in VSMCs in a reliable, high-content platform suitable for the pharma industry. ForceBiology addresses this market need.