Spatial molecular profiling of complex tissues is essential to investigate cellular function in physiological and pathological states. However, methods for molecular analysis of large biological specimens imaged in 3D are lacking. Here, we present DISCO-MS, a technology that combines whole-organ/whole-organism clearing and imaging, deep-learning-based image analysis, robotic tissue extraction, and ultra-high-sensitivity mass spectrometry. DISCO-MS yielded proteome data indistinguishable from uncleared samples in both rodent and human tissues. We used DISCO-MS to investigate microglia activation along axonal tracts after brain injury and characterized early- and late-stage individual amyloid-beta plaques in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. DISCO-bot robotic sample extraction enabled us to study the regional heterogeneity of immune cells in intact mouse bodies and aortic plaques in a complete human heart. DISCO-MS enables unbiased proteome analysis of preclinical and clinical tissues after unbiased imaging of entire specimens in 3D, identifying diagnostic and therapeutic opportunities for complex diseases. Video abstract: [Figure presented]
FörderungenMax Planck Society for the Advancement of Science Helmholtz AI program through grant Deeproad Nomis Heart Atlas Project Grant (Nomis Foundation) ERC Consolidator Grant (AE) Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Wissenschaft (BMBF) Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy Vascular Dementia Research Foundation International Max Planck Research School for Life Sciences (IMPRS-LS)