Glyco Imaging
GLYCOMICS AND SPATIAL BIOLOGY
Sugars molecules, or glycans, are complex structures attached to proteins, lipids and cell surfaces, playing an important role in communication, immunity, adhesion and other molecular and cellular processes. In the field of Glycomics, we study the role of these glycans, to which protein they are attached to and how they influence biology. The next dimension is to put this knowledge in a spatial context: where are these glycans? In the field of Spatial Biology and Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) we can directly see molecular changes within cells and tissues. This allows us to study which glycans are specific inside a certain tumor, a particular cellular population or at the border between healthy and diseased tissue.
Within Biobeyond_NL we enable researchers to explore their biological or clinical questions using Spatial Biology methods and technology, without the need to become an expert themselves. Together we will find the right experimental setup and we will combine molecular imaging with other available spatial techniques. In this way we not only find a list of molecules, but also a spatial map showing which molecules are where and with who they interact.
ACCESS TO MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY (M4I)
At Maastricht University (M4i) we combine the expertise in Mass Spectrometry Imaging, Glycomics, Single-cell analyses and multi-modale imaging to understand complex biological systems in a molecular and spatial manner. Our strength lay not only in the available instrumentation, but especially in the combination of techniques and expertise: from sample preparation to imaging to molecular identification, integration of different data types and biological interpretation.
Our infrastructure offers access to, among others, MALDI-MS and DESI-MS, high-resolution mass spectrometry, optical imaging, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics and workflows for molecular identification such as LC-MS/MS. These technologies can be applied individually or combined, depending on the research question at hand.
With these techniques it becomes possible to spatially map glycans and glycopeptides in tumor tissue, revealing which molecular changes specifically occur in tumor cells, stroma cells to inside the invasive tumor area. A different application is to combine MSI with single-cell and/or spatial transcriptomics to couple changes in metabolites, lipids or glycans with specific cellular populations and their biological status.
Maastricht University forms a crucial link between technology and biology: we aid researchers not only to measure what is present, but we help them understand where the molecules are to fully understand the biological meaning.