SC Connecticut News

A new pathology tool developed at Yale University shows promise in improving cancer diagnoses through the use of barcode technology. The innovation, known as Patho-DBiT (pathology-compatible deterministic barcoding in tissue), was detailed in a study published on September 30 in the journal Cell.

Dr. Mina Xu, co-corresponding author and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at Yale Cancer Center, expressed her optimism about the tool's capabilities. "As a physician who has been diagnosing cancer, I was surprised by how much more I can see using this pathology tool," said Xu. "I think this deep molecular dive is going to advance our understanding of tumor biology exponentially. I really look forward to delivering more precise and actionable diagnoses."

Patho-DBiT employs DNA barcoding to map spatial relationships of RNA and proteins, offering a comprehensive examination of RNA—some types play regulatory roles in cancer. The technology utilizes microfluidic devices that deliver barcodes into tissue from two directions, creating a unique 2D mosaic of pixels that provides spatial information useful for developing patient-specific targeted therapies. This innovation originated from Rong Fan's lab at Yale and is now licensed to AtlasXomics.

Fan, the Harold Hodgkinson professor of biomedical engineering and pathology at Yale School of Medicine, commented on the significance of this development: “It’s the first time we can directly ‘see’ all kinds of RNA species, where they are and what they do, in clinical tissue samples.” He added that understanding each RNA molecule's biology could transform future human biology studies.

Zhiliang Bai, first author and postdoctoral associate in Fan’s lab, highlighted Patho-DBiT's potential impact: “There are millions of these tissues that have been archived for so many years, but up until now, we didn’t have effective tools to investigate them at spatial level.”

The researchers suggest Patho-DBiT could aid in creating targeted therapies and understanding tumor transformation mechanisms. However, further studies are needed to test its effectiveness with patient samples before it becomes part of standard pathology diagnostics.

The multidisciplinary research team included faculty from several Yale departments such as biomedical engineering, pathology, and genetics. Jun Lu noted the tool's capability to generate spatial maps of noncoding RNA expression: "Noncoding RNAs are often in regions previously thought of as junk DNA but are now recognized as important players in biology and diseases such as cancer."

This research received support from the National Institutes of Health under various award numbers specified for Rong Fan and Jun Lu. The authors clarified that their findings do not necessarily reflect NIH's official views.