(NU/1818) The Supply and Installation of a Multiplexed Platform for Measuring Protein Biomarkers with Spatial Resolution at Single Cell Scale

Newcastle University conducts significant discovery and clinical research on human tissue (healthy and diseased) as well as tissues from other relevant biological models. As part of an MRC equipment award (potential), the University are seeking to purchase a technology that can measure multiple protein biomarkers on various tissues and cellular samples with single cell spatial resolution. Due to the sheer nature and complexity of the biological/clinical questions, the system must be able to detect a minimum of 150 protein biomarkers on the same tissue/cell sample. Such a platform will underpin existing work by the FMS core technology platforms including flow cytometry, Bio-imaging and single cell technologies.

This tender process is for an analysis platform that is able to detect and measure over 100 protein biomarkers with single-cell level spatial and morphometric resolution in various tissue sections (fixed/frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin embedded – FFPE- samples) as well as immobilised suspension/adherent primary cells and cell lines. The platform should be easy to use with set up and walk away features and be able to utilise a range of freely available reagents from various competitive suppliers. It should also be able to be operated in a high-throughput manner with options for multi-slide loading and automated staining/imaging as one unit. The system must also come with dedicated data analysis options to include single cell segmentation, phenotypic exploration, and spatial mapping. The system will be operated and supported by the Newcastle Flow Cytometry and Single cell analysis core facility team as a collaboration with the Bio-Imaging Unit. As part of the offer, we are seeking on-site training for a minimum of three people in all aspects of the platform’s operation, including any associated data analysis packages. The offer must include the specified warranty, service and maintenance cover specified in Section 3.2. Please note that the University reserves the right not to make an award of contract.