NanoString Releases Single Cell Spatial Transcriptomics Dataset Highlighting Data Quality of CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager

NanoString Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTG), a leading provider of life science tools for discovery and translational research, today announced a public release of new data generated by the CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager (SMI). This data was generated from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) human liver samples and showcases the best-in-class data quality of the CosMx SMI. The dataset highlights CosMx SMI’s high sensitivity, with the capability to detect and quantify an average of 1,150 transcripts per cell and to maximize biological insights by detecting 676 unique genes. The dataset also represents CosMx SMI’s high specificity, with more than 99% of identified counts on targeted genes.

CosMx SMI enables high-resolution imaging of more than 1,000 RNA and over 64 protein analytes within morphologically intact whole tissue sections. The CosMx instrument allows researchers to visualize and quantify gene and protein expression at single cell and subcellular resolutions within both fresh frozen and FFPE tissue samples. Using a multi-modality approach, including protein imaging, CosMx SMI delivers best-in-class cell segmentation. This high-plex in situ analysis also enables researchers to perform cell typing, cell state, functional, and cell-cell interaction analyses in a single experiment generating high-resolution cell atlases.

NanoString used the CosMx SMI to characterize liver FFPE tissue from normal and hepatocellular carcinoma patients. The CosMx human liver data provides subcellular expression map of 1,000 genes and a single cell tissue atlas that categorizes each cell in the tissue as one of 18 unique cell types. The complete dataset consists of over 800,000 single cells and ~700 million transcripts, and a single-cell tissue atlas across a ~180 mm² area of liver tissue. The high-plex analysis provided deep insight into the cell and tissue changes that occur in cancer, including infiltration of diverse immune cells.

“The CosMx SMI provides researchers with the ability to profile more genes than any other single cell in situ imager. As this dataset demonstrates, the market-leading plex of CosMx yields high sensitivity and specificity. The AtoMx Spatial Informatics Platform (SIP) enables powerful insights into the rich datasets generated by the CosMx,” said Joe Beechem, chief scientific officer, NanoString Technologies.