NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE - CANCER.GOV

Contact Information


Primary Contact

Noemi Kedei, MD
Facility Head

Location

Building 41, Room D310
Bethesda, MD 20892

Additional Contacts

Maria O. Hernandez, PhD
Scientist
Xiaoling Luo
Scientist

Overview

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

User Guidelines

  • Projects are collaborative and subject to the approval of resource advisory committee.
  • Investigators are expected to share the cost of certain consumable reagents, for which CCR investigators are eligible for a 50% subsidy from the CCR Office of Science and Technology Resource (OSTR).
  • Staff are available to assist on project design, data interpretation and study milestone evaluation, as well as general consultation on proteomic analysis questions.