Cited by 854Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsGenomics and Phylogenetic StudiesGene expression and cancer classification

Single-cell RNA-seq: advances and future challenges

Open access
Saliba, Antoine-Emmanuel, Westermann, Alexander J., Gorski, Stanislaw A., Vogel, Jörg·2014·Nucleic Acids Research

Abstract

Phenotypically identical cells can dramatically vary with respect to behavior during their lifespan and this variation is reflected in their molecular composition such as the transcriptomic landscape. Single-cell transcriptomics using next-generation transcript sequencing (RNA-seq) is now emerging as a powerful tool to profile cell-to-cell variability on a genomic scale. Its application has already greatly impacted our conceptual understanding of diverse biological processes with broad implications for both basic and clinical research. Different single-cell RNA-seq protocols have been introduced and are reviewed here-each one with its own strengths and current limitations. We further provide an overview of the biological questions single-cell RNA-seq has been used to address, the major findings obtained from such studies, and current challenges and expected future developments in this booming field.

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  • Hi-C and single-cell sequencing had not been fully integrated at scale with brain genomics data.

    “new methodologies, such as Hi-C and single-cell sequencing, have yet to be fully integrated at scale with brain genomics data (13–16).”
  • The regulatory network contains 43,181 proximal and 42,681 distal linkages involving 11,573 protein-encoding target genes.

    “This includes 43,181 proximal and 42,681 distal linkages involving 11,573 protein-encoding target genes (TF–to–target gene via promoter for proximal versus via enhancer–target gene connection for distal) (Fig. 5A) (15, 21).”
  • The authors determined which modules were prioritized and the sets of genes associated with latent nodes at each hidden layer.

    “Using it, we determined which modules were prioritized, as well as the sets of genes associated with latent nodes that were found at each hidden layer (Fig. 8A and table S10) (15, 21).”
  • Current single-cell techniques suffer from low sensitivity and dropouts, making it challenging to reliably quantify low-abundance transcripts.

    “In addition, current single-cell techniques suffer from low sensitivity and dropouts; thus, it remains challenging to reliably quantify low-abundance transcripts (15, 53).”
  • This is particularly the case for specific brain cell substructures, such as axons and dendrites.

    “This is particularly the case for specific brain cell substructures, such as axons and dendrites (15).”

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  1. [116]Picelli S. Bjorklund A.K. Faridani O.R. Sagasser S. Winberg G. Sandberg R. Smart-seq2 for sensitive full-length transcriptome profiling in single cells Nat. Methods 2013 10 1096 1098 24056875
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  3. [142]Tang F. Barbacioru C. Nordman E. Bao S. Lee C. Wang X. Tuch B.B. Heard E. Lao K. Surani M.A. Deterministic and stochastic allele specific gene expression in single mouse blastomeres PLoS One 2011 6 e21208 21731673 PMC3121735
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Authors
Saliba, A.-E., Westermann, A. J., Gorski, S. A., & Vogel, J.
Affiliations
University of Würzburg (DE)
Corresponding author
Vogel, Jörg
Venue
Nucleic Acids Research
Published
2014-07-22
Volume
42
Issue
14
Pages
8845-8860
ISSN
  • 0305-1048 (ISSN-L)
  • 1362-4962
OpenAlex
W2069295116
Cited by
847
References
167
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 81 · 2024: 92 · 2023: 78 · 2022: 74 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 58 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 67 · 2017: 91 · 2016: 84 · 2015: 46 · 2014: 6
FWCI
7.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nucleic Acids Research (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • MDC Repository (Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine) (acceptedVersion)
  • Online Publication Service of Würzburg University (Würzburg University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
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 Phylogenetic Studies
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene expression and cancer classification
Keywords
single-cell RNA sequencing, single-cell transcriptomics, cell-to-cell variability, transcriptional landscape
MeSH terms
Cell Separation, Sequence Analysis, RNA, Gene Expression Profiling, Single-Cell Analysis, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing

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