ClearLight Biotechnologies and Researchers at the Indiana University's Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center Announce the Publication of "Three-dimensional Imaging and Quantitative Analysis in CLARITY Processed Breast Cancer Tissues," in Scientific Reports-Nature

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ClearLight Biotechnologies, LLC announced today the publication of their first peer-reviewed manuscript in collaboration with authors, Sunil Badve, M.D. and Yesim Gokmen-Polar, Ph.D. Current technologies utilized for preclinical and clinical drug development in cancer are largely dependent upon the 2-dimensional (2D) analysis of thin Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissue sections (5-10 µm). However, the importance of understanding cellular phenotypic information combined with three-dimensional (3D) spatial analysis of tissues is paramount, especially with respect to accurately predicting outcomes for immunotherapy drugs.  This manuscript describes the use of the novel method, CLARITY, to process and immunolabel breast cancer core needle biopsies, followed by a 3D quantitative analysis of a nuclear proliferation marker, Ki67. While there was overall concordance against the gold standard technique, the CLARITY processed tissues (3D) revealed variation in the intra-tumoral Ki67 expression that was not evident in individual FFPE sections (2D). The team also demonstrated compatibility of this method with archived FFPE samples, establishing early feasibility for use in processing retrospective clinical samples with associated clinical outcome data.  This work provides the foundation for future large-scale clinical sample processing and the non-destructive 3D analysis of tumor tissue by this unique method.  "The currently commercially available techniques provide limited spatial data by the multiplexed analyses of a thin (5-micron) section of tissue," said Dr. Sunil Badve, M.D., Joshua Edwards Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Director of the Translational Genomics Core.  "The CLARITY technology holds promise to revolutionize spatial analysis by enabling 3D analysis of thick (up to 1000-micron) tumor to achieve more biologically relevant information regarding tumor heterogeneity and key spatial relationships in the tumor microenvironment." 

"By partnering with the team at the Indiana University's Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, we have been able to work with world renowned experts in the clinical and translational field, while greatly advancing our platform development program," commented Laurie Goodman, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer at ClearLight Biotechnologies.  "We look forward to future collaborative work to establish the clinical utility of the technology."

Direct link to manuscript: https://rdcu.be/buB5j

About ClearLight
Founded by Karl Deisseroth M.D., Ph.D., ClearLight is developing an automated instrumentation platform based on the CLARITY lipid-clearing technique developed by Dr. Deisseroth and colleagues at Stanford University. This technique enables the transformation of tissue into a nanoporous, hydrogel-hybridized form that is crosslinked to a three-dimensional network of hydrophilic polymers. The process produces a fully assembled, intact tissue, which is permeable to macromolecules and optically transparent, thus allowing for robust three-dimensional imaging of subcellular components (DNA, RNA and protein) and analysis of heterogeneous cellular interactions within the microenvironment of a tissue. This technology, paired with proprietary 3D image analysis software, will enable more accurate analysis and assessment of normal and diseased tissue.

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Contact: Laurie Goodman, Ph.D., CEO
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SOURCE ClearLight Biotechnologies

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