Week 4 – Inflammation Assays

Welcome to Week 4 of my blog! This week, I will be explaining the principle and purpose of assaying in general and inflammation assays. Assays are procedures done to measure biological activity on real cells; there are many types of assays, but in this project, inflammation assays are more fitting since dexamethasone is an anti-inflammatory drug. In inflammation assays, enzymes such as luciferase are activated based on the level of inflammation in the cell; thus, the more inflammation, the more activation of luciferase, which is responsible for producing bioluminescence. Bioluminescence can then be measured by instrument known as a luminometer.

In my inflammation assays, I will be assaying the following corticosteroids available in the lab at ASDRP: dexamethasone, fludrocortisone, prednisone, triamcinolone acetonide, mometasone furoate, and hydrocortisone along with current dexamethasone analogs, such as the TBS-protected dexamethasone. Along with these molecules, inflammatory cytokines (IL-6) will be added to induce inflammation.