The Spatial Imaging Technology Resource (formerly the Nanoscale Protein Analysis Section of the Collaborative Protein Technology Resource or CPTR) provides expertise and service in state-of-the-art protein analysis technologies to advance CCR research in basic discovery and translation/clinical studies. Applications include:
- Quantitative profiling of cell signaling and post-translational modification
- Measurement of cytokine, metabolite and serum/plasma markers
- Identification and validation of biomarkers & therapeutic targets
- Assessment of on‐ and off‐target drug activity and pharmacodynamic evaluation
- Study of tumor microenvironment and single-cell signaling
Established Technologies
Automated capillary immunoassay system – Simple Western technology
- High-resolution MW (size-based) or isoelectric-focusing (IEF, charge-based) separation, followed by target-specific immunoprobing to profile proteins and respective post-translational modification isoforms
- Nanogram level of protein analysis for extremely small and precious samples, e.g. stem cells, primary cells, micro-dissected samples, fine needle aspirates, non- or minimally- invasive collected patient specimens etc.
- Provides precise and accurate measurement of protein expression level and activation status, highly quantitative data, good assay sensitivity, dynamic range and reproducibility
- About three hundred assays covering key signaling pathways have been established and successfully applied for functional proteomic research, will validate assays for other targets as needed
- Assay readiness for bench to bed transfer
In-solution multiplex ELISA assays – Luminex xMAP Technology
- Up to 50-plex simultaneous protein target analysis with small sample consumption
- Analysis of cytokine, metabolite, immune response, serum/plasma biomarkers etc.
- Clinical applicable assay performance
Immunofluorescence imaging platform – CODEX (CO-Detection by indEXing) technology
- Provides full spatial context and is not limited to just regions of interest (ROI)
- Provides single-cell resolution down to 600 nm or 250 nm depending on microscope objective used (20X and 40X respectively)
- Single-step staining and gentle fluorophore removal preserves the sample for ROI analysis
- Simple, benchtop fluidics system that is cost-effective and simple to implement in any research lab
Developing Technologies
Single-cell Western system
- Western-based protein analysis on 1000-2000 single-cells in parallel
- Measures proteins hard-to-detect by FACS, such as isoforms, phosphorylated proteins, transcription factors, intracellular proteins etc.
- Single cell signaling profiling and population heterogeneity study
We actively evaluate, develop, acquire and implement innovative protein analysis technologies to accommodate the demands from the CCR/NCI/NIH community.
Digital Spatial Profiling
- NanoString GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling (GeoMx DSP)
- Offered in collaboration with the CCR Genomics Core
- FFPE or fresh frozen
- Profiling data for 100s of validated proteins
- Cancer Trascriptome Atlas (CTA) > 1,800 gene
- Whole Transcriptome Atlas (WTA) > 18,000 genes