# Microfluidic, molecular, and optical tools for multimodal measurement of single cells and tissues

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2024 · $448,116

## Abstract

The development of single-cell genomics technologies has been a driving force in biomedical research over the
past decade because of the throughput, sensitivity, and precision with which such techniques can dissect
complex biological systems. A primary example of the impact of these tools is the rapid translation of single-cell
RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) for comprehensively cataloging cellular states for the Human Cell Atlas project.
Technology that combine microfluidic platforms with DNA barcoding strategies have drastically increased the
throughput and accessibility of scRNAseq so that to-date, the Human Cell Atlas consortium has logged over 67
million cells, enabling unprecedented insight into the cellular diversity in healthy and diseased organs and
tissues. However, while the transcriptome provides a comprehensive and quantitative proxy for cellular state,
proteomic measurements provide a more direct understanding of cellular function, and epigenetic measurements
that profile methylation, histone modifications, and protein-DNA interactions, provide a more complete picture of
the regulatory mechanisms that maintain cell state or drive cellular transitions. Furthermore, cell morphology and
the spatial distribution of proteins and chemicals within the cell can reveal important cellular phenotypes that can
only be characterized by microscopy. Finally, the relative positions of cells within tissues and organs are
necessary for a more complete understanding of the cellular interactions that lead to functional tissues and
organs. This research program focuses on the development of technology to facilitate multimodal precision
measurements in single cells and tissues. We use molecular biology tools and DNA sequencing platforms to
measure the proteome, transcriptome, and epigenome of single cells and nonlinear optical imaging to
characterize chemical composition and morphology of cells. We leverage microfluidic technology to integrate
molecular and optical measurements to enable multimodal single-cell measurement. Additionally, this research
program aims to develop novel computational approaches for integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell
measurements. Our ultimate goal is to develop a tool to make all of these measurements in situ, in order to retain
single-cell spatial information and cellular context in a developing tissue or whole organism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10850086
- **Project number:** 2R35GM124916-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Aaron Streets
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $448,116
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10850086

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10850086, Microfluidic, molecular, and optical tools for multimodal measurement of single cells and tissues (2R35GM124916-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10850086. Licensed CC0.

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