Application of a FRET-based caspase sensor for screening anti-apoptosis compounds in a culture-plate-based high throughput assay

In recent years, it has been recognized that the occurrence of cancer is not only a result of uncontrolled cell proliferation, but is also closely related to cancer cells resistant to apoptosis, a programmed death process used by our body to remove unwanted cells. Thus, a new approach for treating cancer is to re-activate apoptosis in cancer cells using apoptosis-inducing drugs. To find such drugs, a sensitive high-throughput assay for detecting apoptosis is needed to expedite the search process. Recently, we have developed a novel fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based biosensor that can detect the most important event in apoptosis: caspase-3 activation, in living cells. This fluorescence-based technology is ideally suited for rapid detection of apoptosis. In this project, a high-throughput platform based on our FRET-based biosensor has been developed for detecting apoptosis from cervical cancer cells. We could use this platform to discover new anticancer compounds.