Kelly Hunter, Chief Scientific Officer, Propath UK, focused on spatial proteomics, specifically using high-plex tissue multiplexing technologies to analyse many biomarkers in single tissue sections, which is critical for clinical trials with limited biopsy material. Propath has recently been collaborating with Akoya and Parhelia to drive their development of spatial proteomics.
Propath offers both pre-optimised and fully customisable panels, with the ability to add custom targets and scale up for large clinical studies, supporting both discovery and clinical validation phases.
Hunter highlighted Akoya’s PhenoCycler fusion and IS60 assay, which enable the simultaneous detection of up to 100 protein targets in a single section using innovative barcoding and imaging techniques. These platforms support both discovery and validation phases, allowing for high-throughput, sensitive, and customisable assays tailored to specific research or clinical needs.
The presentation also detailed quality monitoring methods, such as the use of Levy Jennings plots and region-of-interest analysis, to maintain assay performance and prevent data loss, which is an especially important consideration for precious clinical samples. By integrating automated processes and a quality-first approach, these advances are enabling the large-scale, reliable application of spatial biology in clinical research and trials, ultimately supporting more robust and efficient biomarker discovery and validation for translational and clinical applications.
Hunter advocated for collaboration with partners and cross-site validation to ensure methods can be transferred and standardised between labs. This is particularly crucial when supporting multi-site clinical trials and trying to make the process seamless.
