Spatial OMICS: Techniques and Trends to Watch Out

The rapid growth of technology like mass spectrometry and high-throughput sequencing during human history gave rise to the idea of "Spatial omics". Their methodological advances in the systematic examination of biological systems. In this blog, let's discuss the trend and techniques which is necessary for humans.

The potential of spatial OMICS as a tool for cancer diagnosis and the growing use of this technology in pharmaceutical research. It is conceivable to understand the distinctive cell interactions at the tumor border, which is essential for cancer detection. Thus, it is anticipated to boost the market growth. In addition, according to a research report by Astute Analytica, the Global Spatial OMICS market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3% over the projection period from 2023 to 2031.

Trends and techniques of spatial omics:

Transcriptomics: The participants in the transcriptome are varied and dynamic. Changes in it are brought about by the stage of cell development, external/ internal stimuli, and the moment at which the signals are assessed. The traditional transcriptome is a term used to describe mRNA transcripts, but it can also be used to refer to other forms of transcripts, including microRNAs, circular RNAs, and long non-coding RNAs. The goal of this technique approaches is to identify and measure the RNA molecules being produced from a certain genome at a specific moment.

Epigenomics: It is an important regulatory mechanism for gene transcription. It describes changes in the regulation of gene activity that function without changing genetic sequences. Identification of higher order structure of chromatin, which also makes up the DNA/RNA modifications and DNA-DNA interactome like DNA/RNA methylation is part of this process.

Metal isotope-labeling techniques: Stable metal isotopes are used instead of fluorophores in approaches based on this technique. Protein expression can be determined by sifting through isotope signals with a laser or ion beam.

Endogenous metals can significantly cut down on background noise and autofluorescence. Imaging mass cytometry (IMC) first uses high-resolution scanning laser ablation with a fixed lateral resolution of 1,000nm to quantify up to 50 markers at subcell resolution utilizing fresh frozen tissues

DNA-Protein Interactomics: Fundamental roles in converting genetic information into functionality are played by interactions between proteins and DNA. These interactions can be characterized using techniques including electrophoretic mobility shift assays, ChIP, DNase footprinting, and systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). But this trend is only effective if the DNA is unharmed.

RNA-RNA Interactomics: People were able to build the higher-order transcriptome framework of living cells by interrogating the RNA-RNA interactome. This structure and functionalities of lncRNA were discovered. Furthermore, the fundamentals of how RNAs interact with one another and with other RNAs in the context of gene regulation and ribosome synthesis have been clarified. It has contributed to the discovery of new interactions between mRNAs and snoRNAs.

Epitranscriptomics: Epitranscriptomics aims to clarify the function of RNA structure and alterations in controlling gene expression with RNA modification concentrating on altered nucleotides in mRNA.