Microscope for multiplexed antibody-based imaging

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 502158695

To date, studies at single-cell resolution including scRNA-seq and CyTOF have focused on profiling populations of cells dissociated from tissues, where the crucial spatial context and information is lost. However, recent advances in microscopy techniques promise to overcome these limitations; imaging approaches that exploit highly multiplexed microscopy promise to simultaneously profile the expression of tens or hundreds of proteins within single cells whose spatial location is preserved. The device applied for here is a fully automated, highly multiplexed imaging platform based on cyclic immunofluorescence microscopy. This technique enables to survey expression profiles of several dozens of antigens on the very same tissue section. It is primarily intended to allow researchers at the University of Münster in the research areas of immunology, oncology, neuropathology, and reproductive medicine to apply an image-based cell profiling method by integrating spatial context and multiplexed antigen resolution. With the power of this state-of-the-art microscopy technique, the aim is to enable the Imaging Network Münster, and in particular the Institute of Experimental Pathology, to generate quantitative and spatially resolved maps of protein expression at subcellular resolution across an entire tissue section.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Mikroskop für Antikörper-basiertes multiplex Imaging
• Instrumentation Group: 5042 Mikroskope für Hochdurchsatz und Screening
• Applicant Institution: Universität Münster
• Leader: Professor Dr. Oliver Söhnlein