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MERFISH Spatial profiling technology

Merfish

Multiplexed Error-Robust Fluorescence in situ Hybridization

MERFISH is a massively multiplexed single-molecule imaging technology for spatially resolved transcriptomics capable of simultaneously measuring the copy number and spatial distribution of hundreds to tens of thousands of RNA species in individual cells.

  • Combinatorial Labeling
  • Sequential Imaging
  • Error Robust Barcoding

MERFISH Advantages

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High Spatial Resolution

Localize RNA transcripts with subcellular resolution.

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High Throughput

Profile a square centimeter of tissue in a single run.

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High Sensitivity

Detect difficult-to-characterize lowly expressed genes with single-molecule sensitivity.

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High Multiplexing Power

Custom multiplexing from 100s of RNAs.

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How MERFISH Technology works

Learn how Multiplexed Error-Robust Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (MERFISH) spatial profiling technology works. MERFISH is a spatially resolved single-cell transcriptome profiling technology.

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MERFISH technology is built upon an RNA imaging-based technique called single molecule FISH. To perform smFISH, fluorescently tagged oligo probes label RNA transcripts of interest, and by directly counting the number of fluorescent RNA targets, you can determine each gene’s expression profile. MERFISH expands on single molecule FISH by adding combinatorial labeling, sequential rounds of imaging and error robust barcoding to greatly increase the multiplexing capacity and enable spatially resolved, single-cell gene expression profiling.

MERFISH implements a novel combinatorial barcoding scheme where each targeted gene in the custom designed panel is assigned a unique binary barcode. Sequential rounds of imaging are used to generate the barcode, a sequence of zeros and ones. This combinatorial barcoding scheme dramatically increases multiplexing capacity.

Additionally, this barcoding system is further designed with error robustness. If there is a readout error, the system can assign the readout to the nearest correct barcode. This is what makes MERSCOPE’s results accurate and consistent.

With MERFISH spatial profiling technology you can spatially localize transcripts with nanometer-scale resolution, mapping gene expression across whole tissues and discovering the complex arrangement of cell types and states.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Learn how spatially resolved transcriptomics with MERFISH technology enables the deep profiling of the expression of RNAs in single cells in their native context revealing cell type, state, organization, interactions, and function within cell culture and tissue.

CSHL Poster 2023: Investigating the spatial distribution of immune cell subtypes in cancer using MERFISH

Introduction In situ profiling of cancer tissue facilitates the preservation of spatial context among the various substates of tumor cells, as well as their interactions with the immune system and the surrounding landscape of stroma,...

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Spatial-Live: A lightweight and versatile tool for single cell spatial-omics data visualization

Abstract Abstract: Single cell spatial-omics data visualization plays a pivotal role in unraveling the intricate spatial organization and heterogeneity of cellular systems. Various software tools and packages have been developed to effectively visualize and interpret...

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Bering: joint cell segmentation and annotation for spatial transcriptomics with transferred graph embeddings

Abstract Single-cell spatial transcriptomics such as in-situ hybridization or sequencing technologies can provide subcellular resolution that enables the identification of individual cell identities, locations, and a deep understanding of subcellular mechanisms. However, accurate segmentation and...

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156
Publications

What customers are saying

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Using MERFISH technology, researchers at the Allen Institute were able to gather cellular-resolution spatial transcriptomic data that advanced us significantly closer toward our goal of creating a taxonomy of cell types and a description of their connectivity within brain circuits – laying the groundwork to one day understanding how brain circuits function.

In the hands of the research community, I believe that MERSCOPE will be a powerful tool for standardizing the way we characterize different cell types, not just in the brain, but also in the rest of the body, ultimately bringing a deeper level of understanding to all life science research .”

Hongkui Zeng, Ph.D.

Executive VP & Director of the Allen Institute for Brain Science

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“MERSCOPE is a game changer- it’s a giant leap from customer-built microscopes that only work in a few labs to a system that’s broadly adaptable. It’s really transformative because it allows molecular labs without experience with optics to use the system and generate high quality data.”

BING REN, PHD

UCSD
Professor of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Member, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Data images

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MERSCOPE FFPE Human Immuno-oncology

The dataset contains 16 total datasets from 8 FFPE tumor tissue types including breast, colon, lung, liver, skin, prostate, uterine and ovarian, each measuring 500 genes totaling over 4 billion transcripts and 9 million cells cumulatively.

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Vizgen MERFISH Mouse Liver Map

This dataset contains a MERFISH measurement of a gene panel containing 347 total genes. The dataset includes the list of detected transcripts, gene counts per cell matrix, additional spatial cell metadata, cell boundary polygons, and DAPI images.

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Vizgen MERFISH Mouse Receptor Map

This dataset contains a MERFISH measurement of a gene panel containing 483 total genes including canonical brain cell type markers, GPCRs, and RTKs measured on 3 full coronal slices across 3 biological replicates. The dataset includes the list of detected transcripts, gene counts per cell matrix, additional spatial cell metadata, cell boundary polygons, and DAPI images

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If you are interested in applying MERFISH to your research, click here to learn more about Vizgen’s early engagement programs

Learn how MERFISH enables researchers to perform highly multiplexed in situ spatial gene profiling across whole tissue slices.

Learn more about MERSCOPE Platform
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