Proteomics of spatially identified tissues in whole organs

SUMMARY Spatial molecular profiling of complex tissues is essential to investigate cellular function in physiological and pathological states. However, methods for molecular analysis of biological specimens imaged in 3D as a whole are lacking. Here, we present DISCO-MS, a technology combining whole-organ imaging, deep learning-based image analysis, and ultra-high sensitivity mass spectrometry. DISCO-MS yielded qualitative and quantitative proteomics data indistinguishable from uncleared samples in both rodent and human tissues. Using DISCO-MS, we investigated microglia activation locally along axonal tracts after brain injury and revealed known and novel biomarkers. Furthermore, we identified initial individual amyloid-beta plaques in the brains of a young familial Alzheimer’s disease mouse model, characterized the core proteome of these aggregates, and highlighted their compositional heterogeneity. Thus, DISCO-MS enables quantitative, unbiased proteome analysis of target tissues following unbiased imaging of entire organs, providing new diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities for complex diseases, including neurodegeneration. Graphical Abstract Highlights DISCO-MS combines tissue clearing, whole-organ imaging, deep learning-based image analysis, and ultra-high sensitivity mass spectrometry DISCO-MS yielded qualitative and quantitative proteomics data indistinguishable from fresh tissues DISCO-MS enables identification of rare pathological regions & their subsequent molecular analysis DISCO-MS revealed core proteome of plaques in 6 weeks old Alzheimer‘s disease mouse model Supplementary Video can be seen at: http://discotechnologies.org/DISCO-MS/