Targeted Olink Proteomics Panels for Cell Culture Biomarker Discovery

Customized and Ready-to-Use Olink Proteomics Panel for Cell Culture Sample

Why Analyze Cell Culture Samples?

1. Controlled Experimental Systems – Cell cultures provide defined, reproducible environments ideal for manipulating variables and studying specific biological mechanisms without systemic interference.

2. Direct Cellular Response Monitoring – Enables real-time investigation of protein expression changes, signaling pathway activation, and secretory profiles in response to experimental stimuli.

3. High-Resolution Molecular Access – Facilitates detection of intracellular proteins, transient phosphorylation events, and low-abundance targets often obscured in complex biofluids or tissues.

By leveraging cell culture proteomics, researchers achieve precise dissection of cellular mechanisms, accelerating the discovery of functionally relevant biomarkers for fundamental biological research.

What We Provide

• Model-focused programs — Primary/immortalized cells, iPSC-derived cells, organoids; mono-, co-, and tri-culture setups under genetic or chemical perturbations.
• Sample coverage — Conditioned media (secretome) and cell lysates with serum-free/low-serum–compatible SOPs; supports time-course and dose-response series.
• Custom panels & study design — 21–384+ plex selection for cytokines/chemokines, growth factors, signaling, stress/UPR, apoptosis, ECM/EMT; plate randomization and batch-bridging controls.
• Low-input, high-throughput — 10–20 μL per well; 96/384-well workflows with media blanks, spike-in recovery checks, and replicate strategy.
• Olink + multi-omics integration — Optional correlation with bulk/single-cell/spatial RNA-seq, imaging, and metabolomics for pathway/network insights.
• Biostatistics & reporting — NPX matrix + full QC; differential/time-series analyses, enrichment and co-expression networks; publication-ready figures and optional interactive dashboards.
• Orthogonal verification — ELISA/MSD, targeted LC-MS, and Western blot to technically confirm key findings.

This service is optimized for:

• Secreted biomarker discovery and validation
• Cell signaling and pathway activation studies
• In vitro model validation and mechanistic screening
• High-throughput, ready-to-use workflows for cell culture proteomics

Features of the panel

• Species: Human Proteome Optimized.
• Design: Intuitive bioinformatics interface for target selection.
• Proteins: Supports 21- to 384+-plex panels targeting cytokines, immune responses, and specific pathways.
• Sample: 1-6 µL cell culture per analysis.
• Readout: Quantification via NPX (Normalized Protein Expression).
• Platform: Utilizes proprietary PEA technology on the Signature Q100 system.

• High Sensitivity: Detects low-abundance secreted proteins and signaling molecules in the pg/mL range.
• Excellent Reproducibility:  Maintains inter-assay coefficients of variation (CV) below 10% for consistent results.
• Flexible Panel Options: Offers pre-validated panels or fully customizable target selection tailored to cell signaling, secretion, or response studies.

List of Our Cell Culture Proteome Assay Panel

Protein category

The Cell Culture Proteome Assay Panel quantitatively analyzes proteins across critical functional categories for in vitro research, including Secreted Signaling Proteins, Surface Receptors, Metabolic Enzymes, Apoptosis Regulators, Growth Factors, and Stress Response Mediators (see Table: List of Cell Culture Biomarker Assay).

This panel encompasses fundamental cellular processes such as intercellular communication, nutrient metabolism, proliferation signaling, and adaptive responses to environmental stimuli, featuring strategically selected targets implicated in key mechanistic pathways. Through rigorous literature curation and experimental validation, we incorporate scientifically relevant biomarkers associated with cell-state transitions, secretory profiles, and pathway activation states, providing researchers with a specialized tool for comprehensive proteome investigations in diverse in vitro research areas, including drug response studies, cellular differentiation models, and microenvironment interaction mechanisms. The panel's optimized design enables targeted analysis of condition-specific protein networks while maintaining the quantitative precision required for mechanistic discovery in cell-based systems.

Table. List of Cell Culture Biomarker Assays  

Protein Functions

The Application of Cell Culture Proteome Assay.

The Cell Culture Proteome Assay enables high-resolution quantification of protein dynamics in in vitro systems, offering researchers a powerful tool for:

• Mechanistic investigation of cell signaling pathways and receptor activation under controlled experimental conditions;
• Discovery of protein biomarkers associated with cellular stress responses (e.g., hypoxia, nutrient deprivation, oxidative stress) in environmental or pharmacological studies;
• Real-time monitoring of immune cell crosstalk and cytokine network interactions in co-culture systems;
• Integration with multi-omics datasets (e.g., transcriptomics, metabolomics) for holistic functional biology insights in in vitro research.

Workflow of Olink Proteomics

Why Creativ Proteomics

Specialized Secretome & Lysate Analysis

Panels are specifically optimized for the unique matrices of cell culture supernatants and lysates, providing robust quantification of secreted factors and intracellular proteins.

Ultra-Sensitive Detection for Low-Abundance Targets

PEA technology achieves sub-pg/mL sensitivity, enabling reliable detection of dilute cytokines, growth factors, and signaling proteins in conditioned media without sample concentration.

Preconfigured In Vitro Pathway Workflows

Access dedicated bioinformatics workflows for common cell culture applications, including cytokine storm modeling, compound mechanism-of-action studies, and stress-response pathway activation.

Media-Compatibility Validation

Assays are validated for performance across diverse culture conditions, including serum-free, low-serum, and complex supplemented media, with minimal interference.

Demo Results of Olink Data

Figure 1: Secretome analysis of natural killer cells treated with pancaspase inhibitors. (Hajikhezri, Z., et al. 2025)

Sample Requirements

Case Study

Colorectal Cancer Cells–Derived Exosomal PIK3CA Mutation DNA Promotes Tumor Metastasis by Activating Fibroblast and Affecting Tumor Metastatic Microenvironment

Journal: Advanced science

Year:2025

• Background
• Methods
• Results

Exosomes are involved in the formation of the tumor metastasis microenvironment (TME) by transmitting tumor-specific substances. However, most of the current research has focused on the RNA and proteins of exosomes, while relatively little research has been done on the DNA of exosomes.

MEFs (mouse embryonic fibroblasts) were cultured in 6-well plates. Exosomes extracted from wild-type and mutant cells were administered continuously for 72 hours, and when the cells reached approximately 70% adherent density the next day. Subsequently, cell cultures from each group were collected after 72 hours of incubation in serum-free medium. These cell cultures were then submitted to Applied Protein Technology Biotechnology for Olink targeted proteomics analysis.

The main role of fibroblasts is to produce paracrine cytokines, which in turn promote tumor metastasis. The investigators hypothesize that specific factors released by fibroblasts contribute to colorectal cancer metastasis. To determine the levels of cytokines, they used Olink's proteome-specific assay to identify extracellular matrix (ECM) from MEFsWT and MEFsMT. Approximately 40 cytokines are secreted, 7 of which include colony-stimulating factor (CSF), recombinant macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC), IL6, macrophage inflammatory protein-1 (MIP-1), interferon, α2 (IFNα2), tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), exhibit significantly elevated protein levels in the extracellular matrix of MEFsMT (Figure 5A).

Figure 1. Olink targets proteome testing as well as different types of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (CMs). (Wang, R., et al. 2025)

FAQs

References

1. Hajikhezri, Z., Zygouras, I., Sönnerborg, A., et al. (2025). Pan-caspase inhibitors induce secretion of HIV-1 latency reversal agent lymphotoxin-alpha from cytokine-primed NK cells. Cell death discovery, 11(1), 44. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41420-025-02330-1 
2. Wang, R., Li, W., Lv, Y., et al. (2025). Colorectal Cancer Cells-Derived Exosomal PIK3CA Mutation DNA Promotes Tumor Metastasis by Activating Fibroblast and Affecting Tumor Metastatic Microenvironment. Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 12(27), e2501792. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202501792