A novel yeast (S.cerevisiae) strain has been discovered at the University of Alberta that can be used to screen for new drugs that target viral DNA polymerases. The strain is a DNA polymerase delta mutant dependent on an antiviral drug for growth, and is suitable for screening large panels of molecules very economically in microtiter plates. Yeast cellular high throughput screening (HTS) has several advantages relative to mammalian cellular HTS and in vitro HTS, including fast discrimination of real hits from false positives, simple handling, clean read-out in a heterologous yet eukaryotic environment, genetic malleability and established wealth of genetic tools 1.
The strain is designed to grow in the presence of a compound that functionally mimics the antiviral drug’s action on the DNA polymerase. These “hits” would thus select for membrane permeability and against general cytotoxicity.
1. Barberis et al. Yeast as a screening tool. Drug Discovery Today: Technologies. Vol.2., No.2, 2005.