Technology Development Unit

技术开发股：项目摘要 U 54西北大学癌症染色质纳米成像中心（NU-CCNIC）的总体目标 是开发和部署多尺度染色质纳米成像平台以及分子分析， 表征与癌症相关的染色质结构和转录模式的计算建模 干细胞（CSC）和化学抗性表型。我们致力于填补三项技术空白， 这样一个纳米成像平台。(1)多尺度的挑战源于需要研究染色质如何 调节基因表达的范围很广，从DNA的直径（~2 nm）到DNA的大小， 核小体（~10 nm）到染色质结构域（~100 nm）到细胞核（~10 µm）以及细胞群， 解释了细胞间的异质性。(2)多重分子成像的挑战是由于大的 需要与3D染色质结构共同注册的关键基因和分子调节因子的数量 数据时间动力学的挑战需要在广泛的时间尺度上工作的能力 研究可能在几分钟内发生的短期过程，如染色质重塑，以及长期 这些过程可能会持续数周，例如癌细胞中出现化疗耐药性。没有单一 技术满足这三个要求。 我们应对这三大挑战的解决方案是将三大技术家族有机地联系起来： 染色质扫描透射电子显微镜（ChromSTEM），光谱单分子定位 显微镜（sSMLM）和部分波光谱（PWS）纳米传感显微镜。在注册这些 技术与1纳米精度，他们将共同满足多尺度，多路复用，和动态 要求.我们将在技术上实现三个目标。(1)开发下一代sSMLM， 原理，无限多路复用，最高的光子利用率和1 nm的空间精度。(2)发展 相关ChromSTEM-sSMLM-PWS成像，可实现1 nm精度的跨模态配准 由基于新量子点的纳米组装可信标记辅助。（3）建立多尺度的 分子建模平台，以阐明染色质结构与 用纳米成像平台成像的CSC中的转录重编程。所提出的技术 研究试验台单位（RTB）的需要推动了这项研究的发展，以阐明表观遗传和染色质 CSC过程中转录可塑性的驱动因素，特别是适应性抗性的发展， 化疗，并探索将CSC重编程出干细胞状态作为治疗方法的可行性。 战略RTB调查人员的持续反馈将与TECH平台的优化相结合， 从长远来看，我们的U 54技术能够影响更广泛的癌症研究社区， 细胞癌症生物学成像研究网络之外的组织。

Technology Development Unit: PROJECT SUMMARY The overall goal of the U54 Northwestern University Center for Chromatin Nanoimaging in Cancer (NU-CCNIC) is to develop and deploy a multi-scale chromatin nanoimaging platform together with molecular analyses and computational modeling to characterize chromatin structure and transcriptional patterns associated with cancer stem cells (CSCs) and the chemoresistance phenotype. We seek to fill three technology gaps in developing such a nanoimaging platform. (1) The multi-scale challenge stems from the need to investigate how chromatin regulates gene expression across a wide range of scales, from the diameter of DNA (~2 nm) to the size of nucleosomes (~10 nm) to chromatin domains (~100 nm) to cell nuclei (~10 µm) and to a population of cells to account for intercellular heterogeneity. (2) The multiplexed molecular imaging challenge arises due to a large number of critical genes and molecular regulators that need to be co-registered with the 3D chromatin structural data. And (3) The temporal dynamics challenge requires the ability to work across a wide range of time scales to study short-term processes that may occur within minutes, such as chromatin remodeling, and long-term processes that may progress over weeks, such as the emergence of chemoresistance in cancer cells. No single technique satisfies all three requirements. Our solution to address these three challenges is to organically correlate three families of technologies: chromatin scanning transmission electron microscopy (ChromSTEM), spectroscopic single-molecule localization microscopy (sSMLM), and partial wave spectroscopic (PWS) nanosensing microscopy. After registering these technologies with 1 nm precision, they will collectively satisfy the multi-scale, multiplexing, and dynamics requirements. We will achieve three objectives in TECH. (1) Develop next-generation sSMLM that enables, in principle, unlimited multiplexing with the highest photon utilization and at 1 nm spatial precision. (2) Develop correlative ChromSTEM-sSMLM-PWS imaging that enables cross-modality registration at 1 nm precision assisted by novel quantum dot-based nano assembly fiduciary markers. And (3) Develop a multi-scale molecular modeling platform to elucidate the etiological relationship between chromatin structure and transcriptional reprogramming in CSCs imaged with the nanoimaging platform. The proposed technology development is driven by the needs of the Research Test-Bed unit (RTB) to elucidate epigenetic and chromatin drivers of transcriptional plasticity in CSC processes, in particular the development of adaptive resistance to chemotherapy, and to explore the feasibility of reprogramming CSCs out of the stem-states as a therapeutic strategy. Continuous feedback from RTB investigators will be integrated with the TECH platform's optimization, enabling, in the longer-term, our U54 technologies to impact the broader cancer research community within and beyond the Cellular Cancer Biology Imaging Research Network.