Single-cell temporal transcriptomics from tiny cytoplasmic biopsies

Abstract

In a recent issue in Nature, Chen et al. present Live-seq, a single-cell transcriptomic profiling method using picoliter scale single-cell cytoplasmic biopsies instead of complete cell lysis. Since the cells quickly recover and basically remain unaffected after the cytoplasmic extraction, the authors transform single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) from an end point to a temporal analysis platform.

Figure 1

Schematic comparison of traditional scRNA-seq and Live-seq After mRNA collection by FluidFM nanoextraction of single-cell biopsy, the cell remains viable and its life cycle can be followed further. Its response to external stimuli can be monitored and a next extraction with mRNA analysis can be performed in a straightforward manner. In contrast, cell lysis damages the cell in traditional scRNA-seq, making further investigation on the same cell impossible. Figure created using BioRender (https://biorender.com/)