Moleculent offers a proximity ligation platform that detects and quantifies receptor‑ligand interactions directly in intact tissue sections, providing functional maps of cell‑cell communication. By combining dual antibody‑based PLA with oligonucleotide amplification and simultaneous protein marker staining, the technology delivers spatially resolved interaction profiles that inform disease mechanism studies and therapeutic target selection for cancer and immunology research.
Funding
$57.4M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
RHFounders
Product
Problem
Current spatial biology methods primarily measure protein abundance, lacking the ability to determine whether cells are actively interacting through receptor‑ligand pairs. This limits researchers’ understanding of functional cell‑cell communication in complex tissues such as tumors, hindering the discovery of precise therapeutic targets.
Solution
Moleculent provides a proprietary proximity ligation technology that detects receptor‑ligand interactions at molecular resolution within intact tissue sections. By using dual oligo‑conjugated antibodies, the platform captures rare cell‑cell contacts and amplifies the signal through a custom chemistry, making these interactions visible and quantifiable. Integrated cell‑type marker staining creates a spatial map of the cellular landscape, linking each interaction to specific cell populations. The resulting functional profiles reveal active signaling pathways—such as antigen presentation or immune evasion—enabling researchers to move beyond static protein maps to actionable insights about tissue biology. These data support more accurate modeling of disease mechanisms and inform the development and selection of targeted therapies, particularly in oncology and immunology.
Target Audience
Primary customers are academic and industry researchers in cancer biology, immunology, and drug discovery who need detailed functional maps of cell‑cell communication in tissue samples.
Features
- Dual antibody‑based proximity ligation assay (PLA) that specifically tags receptor‑ligand pairs when cells are in direct contact
- Oligonucleotide amplification chemistry that boosts detection sensitivity for low‑frequency interactions
- Simultaneous protein marker staining to define cell types and generate spatially resolved cellular maps
- Generation of functional interaction profiles that distinguish active signaling from mere protein presence
- Compatibility with standard tissue sections and imaging workflows, facilitating integration into existing laboratory pipelines
- Data output suitable for downstream bioinformatic analysis and visualization of cell‑cell communication networks