Jae-Byum Chang (Google Scholar)
Laboratory :
https://sites.google.com/site/jbchang03/
Teacher start-up company : Flashomics Corp. (https://www.flashomics.com/)
Research LIST
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
BioimagingTeacher start-up company : Flashomics Corp. (https://www.flashomics.com/)
Research contents
Professor Jae-Byum Chang's research team has been exploring advanced techniques for imaging a larger number of biomolecules within a single tissue. This cutting-edge field, known as multiplexed imaging, has recently gained significant attention in cancer and brain research. Studies have revealed that the types of cells within cancer patients' tissues exhibit considerable variation. Research findings suggest that the cellular composition and spatial distribution within a tumor are critical in determining the cancer type and its responsiveness to anticancer therapies. Professor Chang's team is actively developing innovative technologies to visualize and analyze the cellular and molecular diversity within tissues.
Research results
Source: Seo, J., Sim, Y., Kim, J., Kim, H., Cho, I., Nam, H., Yoon, Y.-G.,
& Chang, J.-B. (2022). PICASSO allows ultra-multiplexed fluorescence imaging
of spatially overlapping proteins without reference spectra measurements.
Nature Communications, 13(2475).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30168-z. Licensed under CC BY
4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Professor Jae-Byum Chang's research team has been developing a technology that
enables imaging multiple proteins within tissues through a simple experimental
process, without the need for specialized equipment. One notable result of their
work is the PICASSO technology, which was introduced by Professor Chang’s lab in
2022 (Nat. Commun., 13, 2475 (2022)). This technology allows the simultaneous
use of fluorescent molecules with overlapping emission spectra to label and
image multiple proteins. The resulting images are then processed using software
to isolate the individual images of each protein.
Previously, technologies that used fluorescent molecules with overlapping
emission spectra required precise measurement of the emission spectra for each
molecule, posing significant limitations. However, PICASSO operates without such
measurements, relying solely on the correlations among proteins present in the
images. This eliminates the need for complex equipment, specialized chemical
treatments, or spectral measurements, enabling the use of overlapping
fluorescent molecules with ease.
Using this technology, Professor Chang’s team successfully imaged 15 proteins simultaneously in mouse brain tissue by employing 15 fluorescent molecules at once. They repeated this process three times, allowing them to image a total of 45 proteins in a single tissue sample through just three rounds of staining and imaging. Traditionally, only 3 to 4 fluorescent molecules could be used simultaneously, requiring over 10 rounds of staining and imaging to achieve comparable results. PICASSO significantly reduces this to three rounds, saving both time and cost.
Professor Chang’s research team plans to leverage this technology to study the molecular diversity within cancer and brain tissues. Their goals include identifying new cancer subtypes, selecting optimal anticancer drugs for specific subtypes, and discovering biomarkers for developing new drugs targeting these novel subtypes.