Qudi-HiM: an open-source acquisition software package for highly multiplexed sequential and combinatorial optical imaging

Open Res Eur. 2022 Jul 19:2:46. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.14641.2. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Multiplexed sequential and combinatorial imaging enables the simultaneous detection of multiple biological molecules, e.g. proteins, DNA, or RNA, enabling single-cell spatial multi-omics measurements at sub-cellular resolution. Recently, we designed a multiplexed imaging approach (Hi-M) to study the spatial organization of chromatin in single cells. In order to enable Hi-M sequential imaging on custom microscope setups, we developed Qudi-HiM, a modular software package written in Python 3. Qudi-HiM contains modules to automate the robust acquisition of thousands of three-dimensional multicolor microscopy images, the handling of microfluidics devices, and the remote monitoring of ongoing acquisitions and real-time analysis. In addition, Qudi-HiM can be used as a stand-alone tool for other imaging modalities.

Keywords: chromosome organization; multiplexed imaging; optical microscopy; transcription.

Grants and funding

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the grant agreement Numbers: 862151 (Next Generation Imaging [NGI]) & 724429 (Epigenomics and chromosome architecture one cell at a time [EpiScope]) (M.N.). We also acknowledge the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation for their prize ‘Coup d'élan pour la recherche Française’, and the France-BioImaging infrastructure supported by the French National Research Agency (grant ID ANR-10-INBS-04, ‘‘Investments for the Future’’).