Cell analysis by mass cytometry

Abstract

A combination of mutually exclusive cell-based analytical techniques can be applied to the same group of cells for analysis. The same group of cells can be prepared for analysis by each technique resulting with candidate cells targeted for mass cytometry analysis. This configuration allows for the correlation of the information between each technique to produce a matrix of multi dimension of cellular information with the same group of cells.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A method of analysis comprising:
 interrogating, using at least one interrogator, a group of cells;   identifying, using the at least one interrogator, the location of one or more candidate cells comprising at least one property of interest; and   performing elemental analysis of the one or more candidate cells within the group of cells.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the elemental analysis is performed at the identified location. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the group of cells are labeled with more than one distinct elemental tag Tn. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising labeling the group of cells with more than one distinct elemental tag Tn. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location is identified in 2-dimensional space. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the location is defined by coordinates in 2-dimensional space. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one interrogator is selected from the group consisting of an optical microscope, a fluorescence microscope, and a confocal microscope. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one interrogator comprises an electron microscope. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one interrogator is a cell based imaging interrogator. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one property of interest comprises a protein of interest. 
     
     
         12 . A method of analysis, comprising:
 labeling a group of cells with more than one distinct element tag Tn to form a labeled group of cells;   interrogating the labeled group of cells to identify a candidate cell or cells comprising at least one property of interest, such that the integrity of the at least one property of interest is maintained for subsequent interrogation; and   identifying the location of the candidate cell or cells within the group of cells.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising performing elemental analysis of the candidate cell or cells. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one property of interest is a protein of interest. 
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 at least one interrogator configured to identify the location of a candidate cell by at least one property of interest, wherein each candidate cell is labeled with elemental tags;   a data source formatted to record the location of the candidate cell for elemental analysis; and   a detector configured to detect the elemental tags associated with the candidate cell.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the location is identified in 2-dimensional space. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one interrogator is selected from the group consisting of an optical microscope, a fluorescence microscope, and a confocal microscope. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one interrogator comprises an electron microscope. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one interrogator is a cell based imaging interrogator. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the at least one property of interest comprises a protein of interest. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the detector is configured to target the candidate cell.