Decoding Expression Dynamics of Protein and Transcriptome at the Single-Cell Level in Paired Picoliter Chambers

Anal Chem. 2022 Jun 14;94(23):8164-8173. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c05312. Epub 2022 Jun 1.

Abstract

Simultaneous analysis of mRNAs and proteins at the single-cell level provides information about the dynamics and correlations of gene and protein expressions in individual cells, enabling a comprehensive study of cellular heterogeneity and expression patterns. Here, we present a platform for about 1000 cellular indexing of mRNAs and membrane proteins, named multi-Paired-seq, with high cell utilization, accurate molecular measurement, and low cost. Based on hydrodynamic differential flow resistance, multi-Paired-seq largely improves cell utilization in the percentage of cells measured in population (>95%). Combined with the pump/valve structure, cell-free antibodies and mRNAs can be removed completely for highly accurate detection (R = 0.96) of protein copies. The picoliter reaction chambers allow high detection sensitivity for both mRNA transcripts and protein copies and low sequencing cost. Using multi-Paired-seq, three clusters of known breast cancer cell types are identified according to multimodal measurements, and the expression correlations between mRNAs and proteins under altered conditions are quantified. Multi-Paired-seq provides multimodal measurements at the single-cell level, which offers a new tool for cell biology, developmental biology, drug discovery, and precision medicine.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Precision Medicine*
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA
  • Single-Cell Analysis
  • Transcriptome*

Substances

  • RNA, Messenger