Cellular imaging-based biological analysis for cancer diagnostics and drug target development

Cellular imaging may be defined as a multidisciplinary discipline that detects and analyzes cellular macromolecules with the help of microscopy and computer programming. Cellular imaging approaches allow a highly specific and sensitive inquiry for the nature of important biomolecules, whereas molecular biology techniques often lose the spatial information of biomolecules due to homogenization of cells. Many current developments such as confocal laser scanning microscopy, multiphoton, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) advanced the understanding of molecular and functional systems in cells. In parallel, sophisticated probe technologies greatly enhanced optical sensitivity and molecular specificity at the single cell level. With the help of reliable image analysis techniques, molecular data from normal and diseased cells are generated in high throughput manners to investigate the biomarkers and drug target candidates. In this report, some recent technologies in cellular imaging are outlined and image analysis applications in molecular diagnostics and drug target development are discussed.