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Review
. 2019 May;19(5):1278-1287.
doi: 10.1111/ajt.15316. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

Single cell immune profiling in transplantation research

Lauren E Higdon  1 , Steven Schaffert  2   3 , Purvesh Khatri  2   3 , Jonathan S Maltzman  1   4
Affiliations
Review

Single cell immune profiling in transplantation research

Lauren E Higdon et al. Am J Transplant. 2019 May.

Abstract

Recently developed single-cell profiling technologies hold promise to provide new insights including analysis of population heterogeneity and linkage of antigen receptors with gene expression. These technologies produce complex data sets that require knowledge of bioinformatics for appropriate analysis. In this minireview, we discuss several single-cell immune profiling technologies for gene and protein expression, including cytometry by time-of-flight, RNA sequencing, and antigen receptor sequencing, as well as key considerations for analysis that apply to each. Because of the critical importance of data analysis for high parameter single cell analysis, we discuss essential factors in analysis of these data, including quality control, quantification, examples of methods for high dimensional analysis, immune repertoire analysis, and preparation of analysis pipelines. We provide examples of, and suggestions for, application of these innovative methods to transplantation research.

Keywords: basic (laboratory) research/science; flow cytometry; genetics; genomics; immunobiology; informatics; molecular biology; translational research/science.

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Conflict of interest statement

DISCLOSURE

The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose as described by the American Journal of Transplantation.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Single-cell immune profiling workflow. A, Flow chart of how to use single-cell assays for hypothesis driven research. B, Types of questions that can be analyzed through the single-cell assays. TCR, T cell receptor; BCR, B cell receptor; scRNAseq, single cell RNA sequencing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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