HIGH-THROUGHPUT METHODS FOR GENERATING AND SCREENING COMPOUNDS THAT AFFECT CELL VIABILITY

摘要

The invention relates generally to the area of drug development and more specifically to screening novel compounds for antimicrobial activity. Methods are described for generating mutagenized peptide libraries expressed in colonies of cells. A fluorescent live/dead cell assay combined with a digital imaging spectrophotometer provides a high-throughput solid-phase screening method for colonies or arrayed synthetic libraries. The assay enables screening of antimicrobial peptide activity in at least 10<5>-10<6> colonies per experiment. These methods generate and identify antimicrobial compounds.