10x Xenium is a technology developed by 10x Genomics, a company known for its single-cell analysis tools. It advances biological research by allowing observation of biological processes directly within natural tissue environments. The platform visualizes and helps understand complex tissue interactions, overcoming limitations of traditional methods that disrupt tissue architecture. Xenium In Situ provides insights into how cells function and organize within their native context.
Understanding Spatial Biology
Traditional biological research methods analyzed cells or molecules after removal from their original tissue location. Techniques like bulk RNA sequencing provide average gene activity across a sample, but discard crucial spatial information. Even single-cell RNA sequencing, while detailed, typically requires tissue dissociation, losing spatial arrangement. This loss obscures cell interactions, signal exchange, and how organization influences biological functions.
Spatial arrangement of cells and molecules is fundamental to understanding biological systems in health and disease. In organs like the brain or a tumor, precise cell and molecule location dictates function and interaction. Without this, comprehending organ development, disease progression, or tissue response to therapeutics is challenging. Spatial biology bridges this gap by studying biomolecules and cells directly within their native 3D context, providing a complete picture of biological complexity. It maps molecular component distribution, revealing how cellular interactions determine tissue structure and organization.
How Xenium In Situ Works
The 10x Xenium platform visualizes RNA molecules directly within tissue sections, preserving spatial information. It precisely maps the location and identity of thousands of RNA transcripts simultaneously, providing a detailed molecular snapshot. Specialized probes bind to target RNA molecules within prepared tissue sections.
After probes bind, a four-step authentication process, including padlock probes and rolling circle amplification, ensures high sensitivity and specificity. Amplification creates a robust signal for advanced imaging. Successive rounds of fluorescent probe hybridization and imaging decode each RNA transcript’s unique molecular barcode, allowing identification and precise localization. This imaging and decoding generates high-resolution subcellular data, showing individual RNA molecule locations within a cell. The platform is compatible with fresh frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections, adapting it for various research samples.
Revolutionizing Biological Discovery
The 10x Xenium platform enables new discoveries across biological and medical research, providing previously unattainable insights. In cancer research, Xenium dissects the tumor microenvironment by visualizing spatial relationships between cancer cells, immune cells, and stromal components. This detailed mapping reveals how tumors grow, resist therapies, and interact with the immune system, potentially identifying new biomarkers and treatment strategies. It allows for the analysis of heterogeneous tumor and immune environments directly within the original tissue.
In neuroscience, Xenium maps diverse cell types and connections within brain tissue, offering a deeper understanding of brain function and neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers localize molecularly defined cell types within brain structures, uncovering insights into brain development and disease progression. This detail helps characterize unique brain-region and disease-associated neural cell types.
Developmental biology benefits as Xenium allows observation of tissue formation and cellular differentiation with spatial precision. A recent study used Xenium to gain insights into cellular mechanisms regulating secondary palate formation, relevant to conditions like cleft palate. This helps researchers understand how cell types organize and interact to form complex structures during development.
In immunology, Xenium facilitates immune cell interaction studies within tissues, shedding light on inflammatory responses and autoimmune disorders. By precisely locating immune cells and their gene expression profiles, researchers analyze the interplay between tissue biology, tumor biology, and immunology. The platform’s ability to profile thousands of genes simultaneously at subcellular resolution accelerates drug discovery by providing a comprehensive view of disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets. This aids in identifying new targets, characterizing mechanisms of action, and discovering biomarkers for patient stratification, leading to more targeted and effective therapies.