High-Sensitive Mass Cytometry Metal Tags Based on Noble Metal Nanoparticles Assisting Acute Myeloid Leukemia Immune
Zhizhou Liu1,2, Yu Yang3, Lingfei Qiu1,4
1Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Advanced Science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
|March 2, 2026
Summary
Novel gold and platinum nanoparticles enhance mass cytometry sensitivity for acute leukemia immune profiling. This breakthrough allows detection of low-abundance biomarkers, offering new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for acute myeloid leukemia.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
- Immunology
Background:
- Mass cytometry (MC) is crucial for acute leukemia immune checkpoint profiling.
- Current metal-chelating polymer (MCP) tags have limited sensitivity due to low metal loading capacity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel nanoparticle-based strategy for high-dimensional single-cell immunophenotyping.
- To enhance the sensitivity and signal amplification in mass cytometry.
Main Methods:
- Synthesized antibody-conjugated gold or platinum nanoparticles (AuNP/PtNP).
- Applied AuNP/PtNP tags for single-cell suspension and imaging mass cytometry.
- Integrated AuNP/PtNP tags with MCP tags for multiplexed biomarker detection.
Main Results:
- AuNP/PtNP tags achieved MCP-comparable sensitivity at low doses and up to 48-fold signal amplification at high doses.
- Successfully detected low-abundance biomarkers TIGIT and OX40 alongside 22 other markers.
- Identified three distinct T cell subpopulations in healthy and acute myeloid leukemia samples.
Conclusions:
- Noble metal nanoparticle-based tags offer significant potential for detecting low-abundance cell surface biomarkers.
- The proposed strategy enhances mass cytometry implementation in biomedical and clinical applications.
- Provides new targets and intervention strategies for acute myeloid leukemia diagnosis and treatment.
