# Technical Development Unit 1: Intelligent live imaging of metastasis patterns and subcellular molecular states at the whole organism level

> **NIH NIH U54** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · $337,707

## Abstract

Project Summary
Fluorescence microscopy combined with the optically transparent Zebrafish xenograft model has the potential
to unravel the functional heterogeneity and adaptation of cancer cells that underlies their metastatic potential.
However, this requires bridging disparate scales, as metastatic sites can form across an entire organism, and
cancer cells within need to be imaged with sub-micron 3D resolution. Further, low occupancy of specific
metastatic niches requires imaging many xenografts. This stretches the capabilities of current microscope
technology as they fail to provide high-throughput, high-spatial resolution, and whole organism imaging
capability at the same time. To break through this boundary, we will develop a new multi-modal microscope to
autonomously image both at the organism and subcellular scale in a high-throughput fashion. An optogenetic
module further allows to manipulate pathways or photo-convert selected cancer cells for either tracking or
single cell sequencing approaches. A computational pipeline will automatically detect and select recurring
metastatic sites across many xenografts for high-resolution imaging. This will allow for the first time the
quantitative comparison of functional states such as morphology, survival and proliferation, and signaling
between different niches. We anticipate that the combination of multi-modal microscopy and the computational
pipelines for autonomous imaging will shed new light on key aspects of functional heterogeneity in cancer
metastasis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10374650
- **Project number:** 1U54CA268072-01
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Reto Paul Fiolka
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $337,707
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-24 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10374650

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10374650, Technical Development Unit 1: Intelligent live imaging of metastasis patterns and subcellular molecular states at the whole organism level (1U54CA268072-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10374650. Licensed CC0.

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