Spatial biology enables the study of the contextual relationship between different cell types. In the immuno-oncology (IO) field, spatial biology is used to study immune cells and tumoral cells in their spatial context. Understanding immune cell phenotypes, functional activities, and spatial relationships inside or around the tumoral mass is emerging as a crucial factor of immune responsiveness and resistance in the IO field.
The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of cellular and non-cellular components. Cellular components include cancer cells, blood and lymphatic vessels, and immune cells. Non-cellular components include hypoxia, acidity, cytokines, and the extracellular matrix. Characterizing the TME can help classify tumors, aid in the understanding of tumorigenic pathways, and identify biomarkers that may ultimately lead to the development of reliable prognostic tools and targeted therapies. One of the emerging approaches of studying multiple proteins in the TME is multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF), in which multiple proteins can be detected by several, specific antibodies applied to the same tissue slide. Despite the great need to develop mIF assays, basic and translational laboratories still struggle to integrate mIF approaches into their routine workflows. To make this possible mIF assays need to provide high-quality results within a short time and with minimal use of precious samples. However, long turn-around time, as well as tissue degradation due to reiteration of staining and signal removal steps, impact the ability to accurately detect more than 10-15 biomarkers in the same mIF assay. In addition, the great heterogeneity between tissue types and expression patterns, as well as error-prone approaches of manual or semi-manual techniques, have a significant impact on the reproducibility of mIF results.
Lunaphore has developed a revolutionary instrument, the COMET
TM. Based on patented microfluidic technology, COMET
TM performs hyperplex assays using a sequential immunofluorescence (seqIF
TM) approach, where 40 protein biomarkers per run can be automatically detected without human intervention, in less than a day. It is an open system that allows users to directly create and customize panels with their off-the-shelf antibodies. A guided
workflow for marker optimization helps users to find the best staining and imaging conditions. COMET
TM is a robust system and supports researchers to address their biological questions on the TME with great flexibility and reproducibility.
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