Collaborating for Speed: Magnify Biosciences & Proteintech Streamline Nanoscale Imaging

-Our new joint application note with Proteintech demonstrates how combining FlexAble 2.0 with Magnify Expansion Microscopy accelerates multiplexed super-resolution imaging.

At Magnify Biosciences, we believe that high-resolution imaging should be accessible and efficient. A major part of that vision involves collaborating with other innovators in the field to solve common workflow bottlenecks. We are pleased to announce a new joint application note with our partners at Proteintech, showcasing a workflow that significantly speeds up the antibody staining process for expansion microscopy.

The Challenge: Complex Staining in Thick Tissue
While our universal anchoring system allows for 11x expansion of thick tissue samples, traditional immunofluorescence workflows can be time-consuming. Researchers often face “host species limits” (e.g., requiring different primary antibodies, such as Mouse vs. Rabbit) and long incubation times for secondary antibodies to penetrate expanded gels.

A Collaborative Solution: FlexAble 2.0 + Magnify
By working together, our teams validated a workflow that combines Proteintech’s FlexAble 2.0 Antibody Labeling Kits with our Magnify Expansion Kits. This combination offers a streamlined approach for researchers looking to multiplex without the usual constraints.

Figure 1. Overview of the Magnify™ Workflow (from the application note).

Key findings from our collaboration include:

• Simpler Workflow: The ability to directly conjugate fluorophores to primary antibodies eliminates the need for secondary antibody steps.
• Flexible Multiplexing: Researchers can use multiple primary antibodies from the same host species (e.g., two Rabbit antibodies) on the same tissue slice without cross-reactivity.
• Reliable Resolution: The study confirmed that Magnify’s gel chemistry effectively retains these custom-labeled antibodies, preserving signal even after 10-fold expansion.

In our joint study, we successfully labeled and expanded Tom20 (Mitochondria) and GOLGA2 (Golgi) using the same sample with Rabbit Polyclonal antibodies. The resulting images show distinct ultrastructures resolved at ~25nm with no crosstalk.

Figure 2. Immunofluorescent images of the mouse brain specimens expanded using a Magnify™ Kit and stained with FlexAble 2.0 Antibody Labeling Kit. Expanded mouse brain tissue was stained with Rabbit anti-Syntaxin 1B (Proteintech, 83298-1-RR), Rabbit anti-Neuregulin (Proteintech, 83323-6-RR), and Rabbit anti-Ephrin A4 (Proteintech, 82951-1-RR). The antibodies were conjugated using the FlexAble 2.0 Antibody Labeling Kit (Syntaxin 1B conjugated with KFA501 CoraLite® Plus 488; Neuregulin conjugated with KFA502 CoraLite® Plus 555; and Ephrin A4 conjugated with KFA503 CoraLite® Plus 647). The sample was imaged using a Nikon Eclipse Ti2 epifluorescence microscope equipped with a CSU-W1 spinning disk confocal module using a CFI Plan Apochromat VC 60×C WI (1.2 NA) objective (from the application note).

We invite you to read the full details of this collaboration and view the imaging results on Proteintech’s website.

Read the Full Application Note Here