Cited by 152Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsGenomics and Chromatin DynamicsGene Regulatory Network Analysis

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 60 of the 60 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; 1 of the 19 sources its claims cite were checked for support.

NEAT-seq: simultaneous profiling of intra-nuclear proteins, chromatin accessibility and gene expression in single cells

Open access
Chen, Amy F., Parks, Benjamin, Kathiria, Arwa S., Ober-Reynolds, Benjamin, Goronzy, Jorg J., Greenleaf, William J.·2022·Nature Methods

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

In this work, we describe NEAT-seq (sequencing of nuclear protein epitope abundance, chromatin accessibility and the transcriptome in single cells), enabling interrogation of regulatory mechanisms spanning the central dogma. We apply this technique to profile CD4 memory T cells using a panel of master transcription factors (TFs) that drive T cell subsets and identify examples of TFs with regulatory activity gated by transcription, translation and regulation of chromatin binding. We also link a noncoding genome-wide association study single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within a GATA motif to a putative target gene, using NEAT-seq data to internally validate SNP impact on GATA3 regulation. NEAT-seq offers a tri-omics tool for profiling nuclear protein abundance along with ATAC-seq and RNA-seq in single cells.

Overview

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

NEAT-seq enables simultaneous single-cell measurement of nuclear protein abundance, chromatin accessibility, and gene expression by combining oligo-conjugated antibodies with 10X Genomics Multiome. Applied to CD4 memory T cells, it reveals transcription, chromatin-binding, and translational modes of TF regulation and links a non-coding GWAS SNP to GATA3-dependent regulation of TSEN54.

Key findings

  • In a human K562/mouse ESC barnyard experiment, NEAT-seq detected median 13,496 and 16,883 RNA UMIs; 4,732 and 5,086 genes; and 26,762 and 26,929 ATAC fragments per cell, respectively, with >4-fold enrichment of GATA1 and OCT4 ADT counts and >2-fold enrichment of SOX2 ADT counts in their respective cell types.
  • HTO-based doublet detection enabled in silico removal of almost 50% of doublets, and NEAT-seq ADT data labeled CD4 memory T cell subsets more robustly than RNA data, which required smoothing due to dropout.
  • In CD4 memory T cells, the authors identified seven scATAC-seq clusters largely corresponding to scRNA-seq clusters and proposed three TF regulatory modes: transcriptional regulation (RORγT, Tbet), transcriptional expression but requirement of other TFs for chromatin binding (FOXP3), and translational regulation (GATA3).
  • GATA3 ADT levels, but not RNA levels, correlated with global GATA3 motif accessibility; candidate post-transcriptional regulators included EEF1G, RPL18, PABPC4, GAB2, and NIBAN1. TF-peak-gene linkages identified GATA3 targets CCR4, CCR8, and IL4R and the RORγT target CCR6, and the GWAS SNP rs62088464 in a GATA motif was linked to TSEN54, with most ATAC reads in high-GATA3-ADT cells mapping to the risk allele.

Methods

  • Antibodies were conjugated to barcoded oligos and pre-bound with E. coli ssDNA binding protein (EcoSSB) to improve nuclear protein staining; stained fixed/permeabilized cells were processed with the 10X Genomics Multiome kit for scATAC-seq and scRNA-seq, with HTOs for multiplexing and doublet detection.
  • The method was tested in a human K562/mouse ESC barnyard experiment and applied to primary human CD4+CD45RO+ memory T cells using an antibody panel against GATA3, Tbet, RORγT, FOXP3, and Helios.
  • Analysis used cellranger-ARC, ArchR, Seurat, chromVAR, Spearman correlations between TF ADT levels and peak accessibility or gene expression, TF-peak-gene linkage identification, GWAS SNP overlap, and allele-specific accessibility testing with a one-sided binomial test.

Limitations

  • The paper states that the CD4 memory T cell dataset showed a small reduction in unique ATAC and RNA reads relative to a standard 10X Multiome experiment, similar to other fixed single-cell assays.
  • The paper notes that cell fixation increases the doublet rate in droplet-based single-cell technologies, and that SOX2 antibody enrichment was low, with western blot showing specific but relatively weak binding.
  • The paper states that uncoupling of TF protein expression and motif accessibility highlights caveats of using motif accessibility alone to infer TF activity; evident from the text, the primary CD4 memory T cell analysis is limited to one TF panel and does not report replication across multiple donors.

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Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41592-022-01461-y

Cites

60 of 60 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Verification

Claims the paper makes

32 Own result · 16 Not checked yet · 16 Own interpretation · 3 Own method · 1 Supported · 1 No basis given

Verify all 18 references — free account
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 24
  • Probably not a substantial claim. 7
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 3
33 of 33
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Quantification of nuclear gene regulatory proteins along with chromatin accessibility profiling and RNA-seq has not been demonstrated.

    “However, quantification of nuclear gene regulatory proteins along with chromatin accessibility profiling and RNA-seq has not been demonstrated.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    GAB2 is a direct activator of PI3K.

    “while GAB2 is a direct activator of PI3K.”
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Levels of the nuclear pore complex are relatively constant across cells.

    “since we expected that levels of the nuclear pore complex should be relatively constant across cells”
3 of 3

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Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Chen, A. F., Parks, B., Kathiria, A. S., Ober-Reynolds, B., Goronzy, J. J., & Greenleaf, W. J.
Affiliations
  • Stanford Medicine (US)
  • Chan Zuckerberg Biohub San Francisco (US)
Corresponding author
Greenleaf, William J.
Venue
Nature Methods
Published
2022-05
Volume
19
Issue
5
Pages
547-553
ISSN
  • 1548-7091 (ISSN-L)
  • 1548-7105
OpenAlex
W4225287808
Cited by
139
References
60
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 14
FWCI
10.36
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Methods (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Human Genome Research Institute (P50HG007735, UM1HG009442)
  • U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (F32GM135996)
  • United States Department of Commerce | National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U19AI057266)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene Regulatory Network Analysis
Keywords
single-cell multi-omics, chromatin accessibility, single-cell transcriptome, memory CD4+ T cells, master transcription factors, transcriptional regulation, translational regulation, GATA3, GATA motif, single nucleotide polymorphisms, T cell differentiation
MeSH terms
Chromatin, Nuclear Proteins, Gene Expression Profiling, Genome-Wide Association Study, Transcriptome

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