Optical Barcoding for Single-Clone Tracking to Study Tumor Heterogeneity.

ABSTRACT: Intratumoral heterogeneity has been identified as one of the strongest drivers of treatment resistance and tumor recurrence. Therefore, investigating the complex clonal architecture of tumors over time has become a major challenge in cancer research. We developed a new fluorescent "optical barcoding" technique that allows fast tracking, identification, and quantification of live cell clones in vitro and in vivo using flow cytometry (FC). We optically barcoded two cell lines derived from malignant glioma, an exemplary heterogeneous brain tumor. In agreement with mathematical combinatorics, we demonstrate that up to 41 clones can unambiguously be marked using six fluorescent proteins and a maximum of three colors per clone. We show that optical barcoding facilitates sensitive, precise, rapid

SUBMITTER: Mohme M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5363186 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature