Voltage‐Programmed Sequential Fluorescence Encoding (VPSFE) Enables Multiplexed In Situ Proteo‐Imaging with Electric‐Field Turing Patterns
DNA barcode-based immunolabeling has revolutionized single-cell protein profiling. However, conventional multiplexed imaging methods are hindered by laborious probe exchange procedures involving buffer washing-based probe removal and prolonged hybridization cycles (requiring tens of minutes to 1.5 h per cycle), which limit throughput, specificity, and universality. Here, we introduce an electrophoresis-based in situ probe removal method that achieves high-specificity iterative probe imaging without washing steps, utilizing 2-min low-voltage electrophoresis for excess probes removal and 3-min high-voltage electrophoresis for hybridized probes dissociation. The robustness was validated through 19 rounds of cyclic electrophoresis, 10 rounds of repetitive imaging, and simultaneous processing of 14 probes (µM-level) across five rounds of multiprobe exchange, demonstrating exceptional specificity and efficiency. Applied to sequential color coding-based multiplexed imaging, this approach establishes voltage-programmed sequential fluorescence encoding (VPSFE), enabling multiplexed imaging of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins. Furthermore, we developed a VPSFE-based Turing pattern coding strategy for multiplexed detection that requires only a single multicolor probe hybridization step. Using three voltage conditions and three fluorescence channels, this system generates 27 unique fluorescence Turing patterns to encode 27 distinct targets. This electric-field Turing pattern coding strategy represents a novel probe exchange-free approach for rapid, universal, and highly specific multiplexed in situ imaging.
Authors
- Qinxin Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3452-6396)
- C. Yao
- Jia‐Yi Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2781-2934)
- Yi Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0327-8839)
- Likun Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3898-6533)
- Zhaoxia Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6946-5357)
- Guohua Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6675-4452)
- Bingjie Zou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1056-9156)
- Shuo Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7842-7782)
- Weihua Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8192-4453)
- Yunlong Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2699-626X)
- Chen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9127-0054)
- Haiping Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7795-3422)
- Zhenghan Xiong
Institutions
- China Pharmaceutical University (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie International Edition
- Published
- 2025-08-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202511629
- Primary Topic
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province