NEW YORK – Single-cell proteomics firm IsoPlexis said today it has received a $2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center.
The grant will fund development of methods using the company's IsoLight system to study protein signaling pathways in single tumor cells, allowing for improved analysis of cancer signaling and tumor heterogeneity.
Isoplexis's platform uses microchips featuring arrays of thousands of microchambers that isolate individual cells from samples of interest. These chambers are then sealed with a slide that is patterned with groups of antibodies in a number of different spatially isolated lines. This allows the researchers to identify proteins based on the color of fluorescence produced upon binding and the location on the slide where the binding event occurs. In this way, they can multiplex well beyond the levels allowed by fluorescence readout alone.
The award follows a $4 million SBIR grant the company received earlier this year as well as a $1.8 million SBIR grant it received in 2017.