Understanding the pathogenesis of infectious diseases by single-cell RNA sequencing

Wanqiu Huang; Danni Wang; Yu-Feng Yao

doi:10.15698/mic2021.09.759

Understanding the pathogenesis of infectious diseases by single-cell RNA sequencing

Microb Cell. 2021 Aug 4;8(9):208-222. doi: 10.15698/mic2021.09.759. eCollection 2021 Sep 6.

Authors

Wanqiu Huang¹, Danni Wang¹, Yu-Feng Yao^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institutes of Medical Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
² Department of Infectious Diseases, Shanghai Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai 200025, China.

Abstract

Infections are highly orchestrated and dynamic processes, which involve both pathogen and host. Transcriptional profiling at the single-cell level enables the analysis of cell diversity, heterogeneity of the immune response, and detailed molecular mechanisms underlying infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Herein, we highlight recent remarkable advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies and their applications in the investigation of host-pathogen interactions, current challenges and potential prospects for disease treatment are discussed as well. We propose that with the aid of scRNA-seq, the mechanism of infectious diseases will be further revealed thus inspiring the development of novel interventions and therapies.

Keywords: bacteria; fungi; immune response; infectious diseases; parasites; single-cell RNA sequencing; viruses.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81830068, No. 81772140, No. 31700120, and No. 81501733), Key Research and Development Project of China (No. 2016YFA0500600), the Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning.