InquiryThe nervous system is a complex system composed of multiple cell types. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive decline in memory and cognitive function. The brains of AD patients exhibit a variety of pathological features, including amyloid plaques, neurogenic fiber tangles, astrocyte proliferation, microglia activation, and loss of neurons, neuronal cells, and synaptic elements. However, the causative factors of cognitive decline in AD patients remain unclear.
Figure 1. Immunostaining of Aβ (6E10, white), astrocytes (GFAP, green), neurons (NeuN, red), and nuclei (DAPI, blue) at the indicated ages (months). (Chen W. T., et al., 2020)
How we use spatial omics to deepen researchers' knowledge of AD
The spatial organization of cells and molecules underlies physiological function and disease pathology, and the location and imaging information of molecules is a driving force in neurobiology and pathology. Spatial multi-omics allows neuropathologists to delve into the level of granularity needed to address the cellular complexity of the CNS and gain insight into neurological diseases, including AD. CD Genomics offers a spatial transcriptomic, genome-wide analysis-based approach to unravel dysregulated cellular networks near AD pathogenic markers.
- Our constructed spatial barcode arrays allow unbiased transcriptome analysis in tissues, maintaining the spatial localization of sequenced molecules. This plays a key role in homeostasis and the tissue function of AD.
- We can perform large-scale imaging analysis of molecules using spatial omics techniques. This means that we can provide detailed information about which cells are present in AD tissue samples, where they are related to each other, and their status.
- We combine images from each spatial omics analysis with bioinformatics methods and provide new information to our clients. We synthesize molecular tools for facilitating molecular analysis of AD pathology tissues that yield information that is difficult to obtain from various other technical measurements.
Sample requirements: AD pathological tissues from humans, mice, rats, zebrafish, and other model organisms (FPEE compatible)
What is available to our clients
- Probe cellular and molecular mechanisms under normal development, neurological function, AD, and disease injury.
- Investigate epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation and gain insight into the regulatory landscape of the CNS genome and transcriptome in AD patients.
- Examine the dynamic nature of gene expression patterns and regional gene expression alterations in AD patients and reveal how these may contribute to normal development and the context of developmental or neurodegenerative diseases.
- Identify rare variants that contribute to AD, provide seminal clues to the underlying mechanisms of AD, and develop biomarkers for the diagnosis of these disorders.
- Understand the pathology of AD at all levels, from the broad distribution of cells in tissues to individual transcripts in individual cells.
We do it better
Obtaining the spatial context of tissue structure and morphology is the key to truly unlocking the secrets of neurological disease. CD Genomics allows our clients to explore changes in the spatial distribution of cells and the expression of AD-associated genes at specific subcellular locations. In this way, they can further extend the results of basic research and explore a myriad of new questions about AD.
Reference
- Chen W. T., et al., (2020). "Spatial Transcriptomics and In Situ Sequencing to Study Alzheimer's Disease." Cell, 182(4): 976-991.e19.
