PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ullal, Adeeti V.
AU  - Peterson, Vanessa
AU  - Agasti, Sarit S.
AU  - Tuang, Suan
AU  - Juric, Dejan
AU  - Castro, Cesar M.
AU  - Weissleder, Ralph
TI  - Cancer Cell Profiling by Barcoding Allows Multiplexed Protein Analysis in Fine-Needle Aspirates
AID  - 10.1126/scitranslmed.3007361
DP  - 2014 Jan 15
TA  - Science Translational Medicine
PG  - 219ra9--219ra9
VI  - 6
IP  - 219
4099  - http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/219/219ra9.short
4100  - http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/6/219/219ra9.full
AB  - Immunohistochemistry-based clinical diagnoses require invasive core biopsies and use a limited number of protein stains to identify and classify cancers. We introduce a technology that allows analysis of hundreds of proteins from minimally invasive fine-needle aspirates (FNAs), which contain much smaller numbers of cells than core biopsies. The method capitalizes on DNA-barcoded antibody sensing, where barcodes can be photocleaved and digitally detected without any amplification steps. After extensive benchmarking in cell lines, this method showed high reproducibility and achieved single-cell sensitivity. We used this approach to profile ~90 proteins in cells from FNAs and subsequently map patient heterogeneity at the protein level. Additionally, we demonstrate how the method could be used as a clinical tool to identify pathway responses to molecularly targeted drugs and to predict drug response in patient samples. This technique combines specificity with ease of use to offer a new tool for understanding human cancers and designing future clinical trials.