Potential of High-Spatiotemporal Resolution Live Cell Imaging for Drug Discovery and Development

Live cell imaging techniques play a vital role in drug development by providing dynamic and spatiotemporal insights into cellular processes. These techniques enable researchers to observe and analyze cellular behavior, monitor the effects of drugs on cellular functions, and gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying diseases and therapeutic interventions. Data science, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, plays a transformative role in analyzing and interpreting the vast amount of imaging and other biomedical data generated in drug development. Recently developed high-spatiotemporal resolution live cell imaging techniques, such as lattice light-sheet microscopy, have significantly improved the ability to measure cellular dynamics. These techniques enable visualization of intracellular dynamics with unprecedented detail and clarity, providing valuable information to study cellular mechanisms and identify therapeutic targets. However, current high-resolution live cell imaging faces challenges, including the management and analysis of large datasets, computational requirements, and data integration. After an overview of the history of the development of live cell imaging, this chapter introduces innovations in lattice light-sheet microscopy and highlights the importance of this powerful imaging technique, discusses its potential in drug discovery applications, and emphasizes the need for continued progress in data science to unlock its full potential.