Know the Players: Combinatorial, Single-Cell Approaches
We know that cellular heterogeneity in the tumor microenvironment complicates the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Tumors are complex, dynamic systems composed of diverse cell types in various functional states, including cancer cells and infiltrating immune cells. Resolving this cellular heterogeneity requires a single-cell approach, as analyses on bulk cell preparations mask the heterogeneity of the biological system and may lead researchers down the wrong path.
Cutting-edge single-cell analysis tools for exploring the genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic states of both tumor and related immune cells are enabling researchers to understand system heterogeneity, identify cells with previously unrecognized phenotypes and elucidate important therapeutic mechanisms.
Jonathan Irish will present his work on human solid tumor cytomics, which is revealing novel melanoma and immune cell subsets. He will highlight high-content single-cell approaches developed by his lab for systems immunology and cancer biology studies of human solid tumors, including melanoma and brain cancer. Dr. Irish will also discuss technical and biological quality controls, computational analysis and the strengths of combining single-cell approaches, such as mass cytometry, phospho-flow, imaging, transcript profiling and sequencing. These cytomic approaches are especially powerful for dissecting cellular mechanisms of treatment response, monitoring key biomarkers and precise targeting of clinically relevant cell subsets.
Manisha Ray will guide you through the newest Fluidigm technologies for single-cell analysis at the genomic, proteomic and transcriptomic levels.
