News Brief: NCATS Announces Quarterly Update to Its Assay Guidance Manual

In July 2017, authors of NCATS’ Assay Guidance Manual (AGM) ― a free, best-practices online resource devoted to the successful development of robust, early-stage drug discovery assays ― added two new chapters and revised two others. Updated quarterly, the AGM provides step-by-step guidance for high-throughput screening, lead optimization and early phases of regulated drug development projects.

• Histone Acetyltransferase (HAT) Assays in Drug and Chemical Probe Discovery in the In Vitro Biochemical Assays section, describes essential experimental considerations for performing HAT assays along with practical strategies for assay optimization and validation. The content may benefit researchers performing primary, orthogonal and counter assays involving HATs in the context of drug discovery, chemical biology and molecular pharmacology.
• Assay Interference by Aggregation, in the Assay Artifacts and Interferences section, focuses on identifying and mitigating nonspecific bioactivity in assays due to compound aggregation. Accounting for potential bioactivity due to aggregation in assay design and readout interpretation can save significant time and resources when following up on bioactive test compounds. This chapter will benefit researchers engaged in bioassay development for drug and chemical probe discovery. 

Additionally, AGM authors have revised two chapters: Advanced Assay Development Guidelines for Image-Based High Content Screening and Analysis and HPLC-MS/MS for Hit Generation. The next update is scheduled for October 2017.

Posted July 2017