Columbia Technology Ventures

High-throughput metabolic profiling at single-cell resolution

This technology is a high-throughput and scalable platform for measuring the metabolic activity of single or bulk cells in drug screening and research applications.

Unmet Need: Scalable method for measuring the metabolic activity of individual cells

Current methods to measure metabolic activity require extensive sample preparation or extensive protocols. This limits the capacity for high-throughput metabolic profiling of large samples of individual cells. There remains a need for a cost-effective and scalable platform that is capable of evaluating metabolism at single-cell resolution, which would be highly useful for drug screening.

The Technology: Multiplexed vibrational probes for evaluation of single-cell metabolism

This platform combines spontaneous Raman spectroscopy with multiplexed vibrational probes to measure the metabolic activity of an individual cell or bulk of cells. Using an in-house micro-spectrometer and software package, this technology demonstrates the ability to distinguish among different cell lines at the single-cell level with high robustness and accuracy. Additionally, this technology can screen large libraries of compounds or genes within a few hours. This platform improves the ease and cost of sample preparation, thereby enabling high-throughput and large-scale metabolic profiling in drug screening applications.

Applications:

  • Drug screening
  • Platform for screening genes and other effectors of cell metabolism
  • Single-cell metabolic profiling

Advantages:

  • High-throughput
  • Ease and low cost of sample preparation
  • Measures metabolic activity at the single-cell level
  • Rapid
  • Scalable

Lead Inventor:

Wei Min, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

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