In the rapidly evolving world of spatial biology, it can be challenging for scientists to keep up with the latest platforms and applications. That’s why a new textbook is cause for celebration: it establishes the current spatial proteomics landscape and walks through many examples of how researchers are deploying these tools to explore novel areas of biology.

Revealing Uncharted Biology with Single Cell Multiplex Proteomic Technologies was edited by Wendy J. Fantl, an associate professor of urology at Stanford Medicine, and was published by Elsevier’s Academic Press. (You know it’s a big deal when it’s available on Amazon!)

Here at Ionpath, we were honored to have the opportunity to submit an educational chapter about MIBI technology for the book. We focused on single-cell spatial phenotype mapping of tissue microenvironments, one of the key application areas for scientists who rely on our platform. The chapter helps readers understand limitations of traditional tissue analysis and see why the emergence of multiplexed tissue imaging for spatial biology helped to address those challenges. It also introduces readers to the fundamental principles of MIBI and its use of mass spectrometry to create spatial proteomic data, as well as how to analyze and work with MIBI-powered results. Finally, the chapter highlights several research studies enabled by MIBI, detailing how this unique data allowed scientists to achieve new insights into several types of cancer.

Congratulations for this great chapter go to Jay Tarolli and his co-authors: Yoshimi Munch, Eric Abel, Monirath Hav, Raghav Padmanabhan, Sean Pawlowski, Alexander Gubbens, and Samuel Kimmey at Ionpath, plus Sean Bendall at Stanford University. It was quite a team effort!

Other chapters in the book delve into imaging mass cytometry and other spatial proteomic technologies, and there’s a particularly interesting introduction capturing anecdotes and memories about the early days of mass spectrometry tools.

If you’ve wondered about how various technologies contribute to multiplex proteomic investigations, this book offers a valuable look at what’s available today and how the various approaches are making a difference for scientists. Happy reading!