Clonal barcoding approach assists in live cancer cell tracking

Cell lineage tracking serves many useful purposes for understanding clonal dynamics within complex cell populations, including cancers. To aid in this process, a team of researchers led by investigators at the Brigham integrated short, noncoding DNA sequences into the genomes of individual cancer cell clones to serve as a mechanism for molecular barcoding. From there, the team employed SunCatcher, an approach which differs from other barcoding methods by specifically generating individual clones before the barcoding. This allows for detection, quantification, and isolation of precise clones of interest. For this study, the SunCatcher method was applied within human breast cancer cell lines and used to track important biological processes. The technique was effective at detecting and identifying clones responsible for tumor formation, as well as early spontaneous metastases. Because SunCatcher enables isolation of clones for further analysis, the team was able to study metastatic clones as well as clones that were eliminated during the experiment. The researchers envision that SunCatcher will have the potential to be employed as a beneficial tool in other cell-based studies.

“We offer a new molecular barcoding approach with a Q-PCR-based detection method that is rapid, affordable, sensitive, and accurate,” said senior author Sandra McAllister, PhD, an associate scientist in the Hematology Division at the Brigham. “Another important point is that our technology enables functional analysis of live cells. We’re excited for anyone doing cell-based work that can use this technology – it’s applicable to more than just cancer research.”

Read more in Nature Communications.