The biology of the cell - insights from mass cytometry

Abstract

In single-cell biology there is an ongoing push toward more and more comprehensive measurements made in individual cells. By combining measurements of proteins, mRNA, genetic, and epigenetic traits, in contexts of cell stimulation or drug treatment, novel single-cell analyses will help understand the determinants of cellular identity, differentiation decisions, and regulatory mechanisms governing cellular function in health and disease. Mass cytometry is a flexible methodology not only developed toward this aim, allowing analyses of cells in suspension such as blood but also extended for the analyses of tissue sections. Here, I will discuss the different measurements possible by mass cytometry and not only discuss its potential but also its limitations now and in the years to come.

Keywords: CyTOF; cytometry; mass cytometry; systems biology; systems immunology.