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Syncell webinar—Discover Spatial Proteomics with Microscoop® Mint

Unbiased spatial proteomic discovery is critical to understanding complex microenvironments in biological tissues and cells. Traditional methods like proximity labeling and laser capture microdissection (LCM) have limitations: proximity labeling suffers from sample restriction (non-human models) and can lead to biased results due to incomplete labeling, while LCM is laborious and often lacks the precision needed for targeting small regions of interest.

In our new (and our first!) webinar, Syncell introduced Microscoop® Mint, a cutting-edge tool that is transforming spatial proteomics. Syncell associate director, product management Daniel Dlugolenski, PhD, presented the context for spatial biology, showed how easy Microscoop is to use, and for what applications the technology is already being used.

“Proteins are the key modality in a cell,” Dlugolenski explains. “They show us genetic phenotypes, explain cell and tissue and organismal behavior, and provide actionable insights on cell function, biomarkers for disease research and small molecules for drug discovery.”

Spatial proteomics was 2024’s Method of the Year for Nature Methods, thanks to significant advances in showing where proteins are located and how they function–essentially, what Microscoop does. Syncell has taken these methods one step further, adding higher resolution and subcellular capabilities to the technology.

While structure and function of proteomes are well understood, the picture becomes much cloudier at the single cell and subcellular organelle levels. Proteins are often transient, and have very brief interactions in very specific locations. They also are impacted by their surroundings.

Microscoop offers advantages over existing proteomics profiling and discovery technologies. It can perform unbiased, multiplexed research and is not limited to existing antibodies. Samples for Microscoop analysis are species agnostic, and can include FFPE, PFA fixed, fresh/frozen, primary cells, and cell lines.

Although Microscoop was officially launched late in 2024, many early-use laboratories have successfully found applications for the technology:

–Primary cilia—Dr. J-C Liao, CEO of Syncell, founded the company because he couldn’t see these proteins at the subcellular level. Microscoop helped locate known proteins and identify new proteins within primary cilia achieving something not previously possible providing a deeper understanding of primary cilia and their function.

–Stress granules—these objects arrest translation, manage biomolecule storage, and are challenging to find because they have no membrane, are tiny and transient. Microscoop revealed >20 significantly enriched unknown proteins in stress granules. Importantly, Microscoop identified a protein that is critical for stress granule function via inhibition of translation and its dysfunction can lead contribute to neurodegenerative disease development.

— The Peri-droplet mitochondria lipid droplet interface (PDM-LD) is involved in lipid transfer, metabolism and organelle communication. Dysregulaiton of the PDM-LD interface can lead to fatty liver disease, diabetes, and obsesity. The PDM-LD is a small region of interest, and the key components contributing to PDM-LD dyregulation fatty liver disease and are unknown. Using Microscoop, we found 14 putative proteins that are actively recruited to the PDM-0LD interface after oleic acid, known to inhibit development of fatty liver disease treatment. These putative proteins point to critical pathways that may play a role in the disease.

–Beta amyloid plaques—known for their role in Alzheimer’s disease, Microscoop labelled and isolated proteins from amyloid beta spots and discovered new proteins involved in spot development, Lon protease and DDX3X helicase, and showcased how this work can bet translated to in vivo mouse models.

Dlugolenski presents more applications and case studies, underscoring the potential for Microscoop to usher in revolutionary discoveries in protein location and function. You can watch the on-demand webinar here.

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