According to a study published in Leukemia, Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have created a new imaging approach for studying bone marrow in mouse models.
Sonali Karnik uses the Phenocycler 2.0, which can better study bone marrow in mouse models and improve treatment strategies for bone marrow-related diseases. Image Credit: Tim Yates, IU School of Medicine
This discovery, which overcomes critical obstacles peculiar to imaging this complex tissue, may enable future medication development and therapy for bone marrow-related ailments such as malignancies, autoimmune diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders.
The novel method was made possible by the multiplex imaging tool Phenocycler 2.0, which allowed researchers to see an unprecedented number of cellular markers within intact bone marrow tissue from mice.
Bone marrow is difficult to study because it is gelatinous and encased in hard bone. Since bone marrow plays an important role in blood and immune cell formation and houses valuable stem cells, our unique imaging approach offers a useful tool for a variety of research applications.
Sonali Karnik, PhD, Study Co-Lead Author and Assistant Research Professor, Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Indiana University
Traditional methods for tissue analysis, such as flow cytometry and standard fluorescence imaging, are widely accepted. However, flow cytometry involves the disruption of complex tissues to investigate and quantify cell populations, whereas typical fluorescence imaging can detect only three cellular markers at once.
In contrast, the new methodology enabled the researchers to visualize 25 different cellular markers in intact bone marrow tissue without disruption, providing a more comprehensive view of the bone marrow to aid in disease understanding and the development of more effective therapies.
The technique has previously been used to investigate organs such as the spleen and kidney, but the IU Cooperative Center of Excellence in Hematology team is the first to successfully utilize it on mouse bone marrow.
Because mouse models are widely used to study human diseases, this technique offers a promising new method for investigating a range of conditions like autoimmune diseases, leukemia and other disorders involving bone marrow.
Reuben Kapur, Ph.D., Study Co-Senior Author, Director, Herman B Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indiana University
Kapur is also the co-Director of the IU Cooperative Center of Excellence in Hematology and Researcher, IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The IU Innovation and Commercialization Office has filed a provisional patent for the new imaging technology, and the team is currently expanding the marker panel to include more elements such as bone, nerves, muscle, and immunological and signaling cell types.
Connor Gulbronson, Paige C. Jordan, Rahul Kanumuri, Baskar Ramdas, Ramesh Kumar, Melissa L. Hartman, Izza Khurram, Drew M. Brown, Karen E. Pollok, Pratibha Singh, and Melissa A. Kacena are some of the other IU study authors.
The National Institutes of Health funded this research.
Journal Reference:
Karnik, J, S., et al. (2025) Multiplex imaging of murine bone marrow using Phenocycler 2.0™. Leukemia. doi.org/10.1038/s41375-025-02596-5