NEW YORK – Mission Bio today announced a partnership with antibody and reagent manufacturer BioLegend to provide simultaneous DNA analysis and protein detection in single cells.
Under the terms of the agreement, the firms are codeveloping a sample preparation solution for Mission Bio's Tapestri platform. Single-cell DNA target amplification panels "will enable single-nucleotide and copy number variant detection in combination with oligonucleotide-conjugated antibodies from BioLegend, providing dozens of protein targets that will be compatible with the Tapestri workflow," Mission Bio said in a statement. The partners are also working on a hematology-focused catalog panel, which they expect to launch 2020.
Financial and other details were not disclosed.
"Our system's inherent technology allows us to probe multiple analytes at the same time from the same cell, enabling novel and integrated datasets," Mission Bio Senior VP of R&D Nigel Beard said in a statement. "These new capabilities open up numerous applications, providing multi-omic insight into disease drivers so our customers can understand these complex biological mechanisms and accelerate cures."
The announcement builds on Tapestri's CNV detection capabilities, which the company released earlier this year.
San Francisco-based Mission Bio said its platform is the first to combine DNA and protein analysis in the same single cell. Several groups have developed single-cell methods of analyzing gene expression, via RNA-seq, along with cell surface proteins. The New York Genome Center's cellular indexing of transcriptomes and epitopes by sequencing (CITE-seq) and Merck's RNA expression and protein sequencing assay (REAP-seq) protocols both use the 10x Genomics single-cell platform; Fluidigm has also developed a REAP-seq protocol for its C1 system.
The Mission Bio partnership is the latest in a string of deals in the single-cell space for BioLegend. The San Diego-based firm also has business agreements with 10x, the Belgian life science research institute VIB, and the New York Genome Center.
"Connecting the DNA mutational profile with the protein profile of the same cell is transforming our understanding of cancer, as this gives us the capability to connect somatic mutations to specific differentiation states, and to really understand how leukemia initiates and evolves. This is a game changer when it comes to developing precise, effective treatments," Ross Levine, chief of the molecular cancer medicine service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, said in a statement. Levine's lab has used the Tapestri DNA and protein capability under an early-access program.
"With this insight, we can see the past, present, and future of each person's cancer, determine how it evolves, and develop new therapeutic approaches aimed to prevent disease evolution and relapse," he said.