Exploring Spatial Biology with MERSCOPE

The December 2 MERSCOPE User Group Meeting was a dynamic morning of talks and networking focused on advances in spatial transcriptomics. 

Peter Reinhold, Senior Product Manager at Vizgen welcomed participants and previewed upcoming improvements in 3D spatial multi-omics and data analysis. The morning’s scientific presentations showcased how MERSCOPE, available in the PAN facility, is enabling Stanford researchers to answer complex biological questions at an unprecedented level of detail.

Dr. Li Wang opened the series with work from his lab on the molecular and cellular dynamics of the developing human neocortex. Using spatial transcriptomics, his group mapped gene expression patterns that reveal how neuronal lineages and brain architecture evolve during development.

Dr. Deborah Villafranca from the Goldberg lab discussed how her team is using MERSCOPE to study astrocyte diversity in glaucoma. Her data illustrate distinct molecular states of astrocytes that reflect their spatial distribution in retinal tissue and their relationship to vision loss and neurodegeneration.

Dr. Eric Sun from the Anne Brunet lab shared new insights into spatial clocks and brain aging. His talk described how cellular proximity influences molecular aging signatures, offering a novel way to understand how local tissue environments shape aging processes.

Dr. Kevin Kelley, working collaboratively with the Sergiu Pasca lab, presented research on building human neural circuits from stem cells. By applying MERSCOPE imaging, their teams are uncovering how neuron-neuron interactions emerge and how these models can illuminate mechanisms of neurological disease.

The final presentation came from Vizgen co-founder George Emanuel, who introduced MERSCOPE Ultra and MERFISH 2.0, next-generation technologies that integrate multi-omic profiling in three dimensions. Emanuel described how these tools capture RNA and protein spatial patterns across centimeter-scale tissue sections with subcellular resolution, opening new opportunities for comprehensive spatial analysis.

Those interested in spatial transcriptomics can access to this technology through the PAN facility.