Single-Cell High-Throughput Technologies in Cerebrospinal Fluid Research and Diagnostics

Abstract

High-throughput single-cell technologies have recently emerged as essential tools in biomedical research with great potential for clinical pathology when studying liquid and solid biopsies. We provide an update on current single-cell methods in cerebrospinal fluid research and diagnostics, focusing on high-throughput cell-type specific proteomic and genomic technologies. Proteomic methods comprising flow cytometry and mass cytometry as well as genomic approaches including immune cell repertoire and single-cell transcriptomic studies are critically reviewed and future directions discussed.

Keywords: RNA sequencing (RNAseq); cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); flow cytometry; mass spectrometry; repertoire sequencing; single cell gene expression.

Figure 1

Overview of featured single-cell methods, listing prominent characteristics of each method and providing schematic depictions of methodological workflows and typical data visualizations.