Phasefocus Livecyte Kinetic Cytometer at the Francis Crick Institute
31/03/2022
Identifying the role of HECTD2 in the cellular proliferation of melanoma cells
Dr. Eleonora Ottina and the team at the Francis Crick Institute have used the Phasefocus Livecyte Kinetic Cytometer to identify a new role of the ubiquitin ligase HECTD2 in the cellular proliferation of melanoma cells, which has been suggested as controlling inflammation and immunity in melanoma patients. Ottina et al. studied the gene-expression profile of melanoma patients and discovered several cell cycle genes associated with HECTD2 expression, which were upregulated.
High-contrast images without fluorescence or phototoxicity
Ottina et al. wanted to record multiple phenotypic properties as an in vitro model to investigate a possible cell-autonomous proliferation of HECTD2. As little is known about HECTD2, the study wanted to quantify the protein without using fluorescence labels or illumination to avoid perturbing the cells.
Phasefocus’ patented Ptychographic Quantitative Phase Imaging (QPI) does not require fluorescent labels or phototoxic illumination sources, which allowed the study to generate label-free high-contrast images for single-cell segmentation without influencing cell behaviour, while quantifying in-depth single-cell metrics.
Multiparametric analysis
The Livecyte’s image contrast is also directly proportional to cell dry mass, which when combined with single-cell segmentation allows independent analysis of cell growth and proliferation through monitoring cell count and dry mass. Livecyte’s multiparametric analysis can then automatically correlate these changes with alterations in morphology, all from one assay.
Find out more
Thanks to the in vitro analysis using Livecyte, Ottina et al. could identify a new and completely unexpected role of HECTD2 in the regulation of cellular proliferation and morphology.
You can learn more about the science of the study at the Francis Crick Institute by visiting the Phasefocus website or click the button below to speak with our product specialist directly about the Livecyte and have a one-to-one guided session.