scholarly journals An ultra-sensitive and easy-to-use multiplexed single-cell proteomic analysis

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Li ◽  
Lei Gu ◽  
Zi Yi Li ◽  
Qin Qin Wang ◽  
Hui Ping Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Batch Experiment ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
High Throughput Analysis ◽  
Average Cell

Proteins analysis from an average cell population often overlooks the cellular heterogeneity of expressed effector molecules, and knowledge about the regulations of key biological processes may remain obscure. Therefore, the necessity of single-cell proteomics (SCP) technologies arises. Without microfluidic chip, expensive ultrasonic equipment, or reformed liquid chromatogram (LC) system, we established an Ultra-sensitive and Easy-to-use multiplexed Single-Cell Proteomic workflow (UE-SCP). Specifically, the flexible sorting system ensured outstanding cell activity, high accuracy, remarkable efficiency, and robustness during single-cell isolation. Multiplex isobaric labeling realized the high-throughput analysis in trapped ion mobility spectrometry coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (timsTOF MS). Using this pipeline, we achieved single-cell protein quantities to a depth of over 2,000 protein groups in two human cell lines, Hela and HEK-293T. A small batch experiment can identify and quantify more than 3200 protein groups in 32 single cells, while a large batch experiment can identify and quantify about 4000 protein groups in 96 single cells. All the 128 single cells from different cell lines could been unsupervised clustered based on their proteomes. After the integration of data quality control, data cleaning, and data analysis, we are confident that our UE-SCP platform will be easy-to-marketing popularization and will promote biological applications of single-cell proteomics.

scholarly journals Measuring expression heterogeneity of single-cell cytoskeletal protein complexes

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julea Vlassakis ◽  
Louise L. Hansen ◽  
Ryo Higuchi-Sanabria ◽  
Yun Zhou ◽  
C. Kimberly Tsui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Protein Complex ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Size Exclusion ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Cytoskeletal Protein ◽  
Filamentous Actin ◽  
Latrunculin A

AbstractMultimeric cytoskeletal protein complexes orchestrate normal cellular function. However, protein-complex distributions in stressed, heterogeneous cell populations remain unknown. Cell staining and proximity-based methods have limited selectivity and/or sensitivity for endogenous multimeric protein-complex quantification from single cells. We introduce micro-arrayed, differential detergent fractionation to simultaneously detect protein complexes in hundreds of individual cells. Fractionation occurs by 60 s size-exclusion electrophoresis with protein complex-stabilizing buffer that minimizes depolymerization. Proteins are measured with a ~5-hour immunoassay. Co-detection of cytoskeletal protein complexes in U2OS cells treated with filamentous actin (F-actin) destabilizing Latrunculin A detects a unique subpopulation (~2%) exhibiting downregulated F-actin, but upregulated microtubules. Thus, some cells may upregulate other cytoskeletal complexes to counteract the stress of Latrunculin A treatment. We also sought to understand the effect of non-chemical stress on cellular heterogeneity of F-actin. We find heat shock may dysregulate filamentous and globular actin correlation. In this work, our assay overcomes selectivity limitations to biochemically quantify single-cell protein complexes perturbed with diverse stimuli.

scholarly journals Single-cell proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of macrophage heterogeneity using SCoPE2

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison Specht ◽  
Edward Emmott ◽  
Aleksandra A. Petelski ◽  
R. Gray Huffman ◽  
David H. Perlman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Single Cell Analysis ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Single Cell Protein ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Alternatively Activated Macrophages ◽  
Monocytes And Macrophages ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes ◽  
Post Transcriptional Regulation

Abstract Background Macrophages are innate immune cells with diverse functional and molecular phenotypes. This diversity is largely unexplored at the level of single-cell proteomes because of the limitations of quantitative single-cell protein analysis. Results To overcome this limitation, we develop SCoPE2, which substantially increases quantitative accuracy and throughput while lowering cost and hands-on time by introducing automated and miniaturized sample preparation. These advances enable us to analyze the emergence of cellular heterogeneity as homogeneous monocytes differentiate into macrophage-like cells in the absence of polarizing cytokines. SCoPE2 quantifies over 3042 proteins in 1490 single monocytes and macrophages in 10 days of instrument time, and the quantified proteins allow us to discern single cells by cell type. Furthermore, the data uncover a continuous gradient of proteome states for the macrophages, suggesting that macrophage heterogeneity may emerge in the absence of polarizing cytokines. Parallel measurements of transcripts by 10× Genomics suggest that our measurements sample 20-fold more protein copies than RNA copies per gene, and thus, SCoPE2 supports quantification with improved count statistics. This allowed exploring regulatory interactions, such as interactions between the tumor suppressor p53, its transcript, and the transcripts of genes regulated by p53. Conclusions Even in a homogeneous environment, macrophage proteomes are heterogeneous. This heterogeneity correlates to the inflammatory axis of classically and alternatively activated macrophages. Our methodology lays the foundation for automated and quantitative single-cell analysis of proteins by mass spectrometry and demonstrates the potential for inferring transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation from variability across single cells.

scholarly journals Single-cell proteomic and transcriptomic analysis of macrophage heterogeneity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harrison Specht ◽  
Edward Emmott ◽  
Aleksandra A. Petelski ◽  
R. Gray Huffman ◽  
David H. Perlman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Single Cell Analysis ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Single Cell Protein ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Alternatively Activated Macrophages ◽  
Monocytes And Macrophages ◽  
Molecular Phenotypes ◽  
Post Transcriptional Regulation

AbstractMacrophages are innate immune cells with diverse functional and molecular phenotypes. This diversity is largely unexplored at the level of single-cell proteomes because of limitations of quantitative single-cell protein analysis. To overcome this limitation, we developed SCoPE2, which substantially increases quantitative accuracy and throughput while lowering cost and hands-on time by introducing automated and miniaturized sample preparation. These advances enable us to analyze the emergence of cellular heterogeneity as homogeneous monocytes differentiate into macrophage-like cells in the absence of polarizing cytokines. SCoPE2 quantified over 3,042 proteins in 1,490 single monocytes and macrophages in ten days of instrument time, and the quantified proteins allow us to discern single cells by cell type. Furthermore, the data uncover a continuous gradient of proteome states for the macrophages, suggesting that macrophage heterogeneity may emerge in the absence of polarizing cytokines. This gradient correlates to the inflammatory axis of classically and alternatively activated macrophages. Parallel measurements of transcripts by 10x Genomics suggest that our measurements sample 20-fold more protein copies than RNA copies per gene, and thus SCoPE2 supports quantification with improved count statistics. The joint distributions of proteins and transcripts allowed exploring regulatory interactions, such as between the tumor suppressor p53, its transcript, and the transcripts of genes regulated by p53. Our methodology lays the foundation for quantitative single-cell analysis of proteins by mass-spectrometry and demonstrates the potential for inferring transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation from variability across single cells.Abstract Figure

scholarly journals Quantifying cytoskeletal heterogeneity via single-cell protein-complex fractionation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julea Vlassakis ◽  
Louise L. Hansen ◽  
Ryo Higuchi-Sanabria ◽  
Yun Zhou ◽  
C. Kimberly Tsui ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Protein Complex ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Single Cell Protein ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Size Exclusion ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Intermediate Filament Protein ◽  
Filament Protein

AbstractMultimeric cytoskeletal protein complexes, including filamentous F-actin, orchestrate normal cellular function. However, protein-complex distributions in stressed, heterogeneous cell populations remain unknown. Cell staining and proximity-based methods have limited selectivity and/or sensitivity for robust endogenous multimeric protein-complex quantification from single cells. We introduce micro-arrayed differential detergent fractionation to simultaneously detect protein complexes in 100s of individual cells. Fractionation occurs by 60s size-exclusion electrophoresis with protein complex-stabilizing buffer that minimizes depolymerization. Validating with actin-destabilizing Latrunculin A (LatA), we quantify 2.7-fold lower median F-actin complex-levels in LatA-treated single cells. Further clustering analysis of U2OS cells treated with LatA detects a subpopulation (∼11%) exhibiting downregulated F-actin, but upregulated microtubule and intermediate filament protein complexes. Thus, some cells upregulate other cytoskeletal complexes to counteract the stress of LatA treatment. We also sought to understand the effect of non-chemical stress on cellular heterogeneity of F-actin, and find heat shock dysregulates F and monomeric G-actin correlation. The assay overcomes selectivity limitations of existing methods to biochemically quantify single-cell protein complexes perturbed with diverse stimuli.

scholarly journals Single-cell protein profiling in microchambers with barcoded beads

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Armbrecht ◽  
Rafael Sebastian Müller ◽  
Jonas Nikoloff ◽  
Petra Stephanie Dittrich
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Single Cell Protein ◽  
Protein Quantification ◽  
Protein Profiling ◽  
Cell Protein ◽  
Breast Cancer Cell Lines ◽  
Mammalian Cell Lines ◽  
Galectin 3

Abstract Single-cell profiling provides insights into cellular behaviour that macroscale cell cultures and bulk measurements cannot reveal. In the context of personalized cancer treatment, the profiling of individual tumour cells may lead to higher success rates for therapies by rapidly selecting the most efficacious drugs. Currently, genomic analysis at the single-cell level is available through highly sensitive sequencing approaches. However, the identification and quantification of intracellular or secreted proteins or metabolites remains challenging. Here, we introduce a microfluidic method that facilitates capture, automated data acquisition and the multiplexed quantification of proteins from individual cells. The microfluidic platform comprises 1026 chambers with a volume of 152 pL each, in which single cells and barcoded beads are co-immobilized. We demonstrated multiplexed single-cell protein quantification with three different mammalian cell lines, including two model breast cancer cell lines. We established on-chip immunoassays for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), galectin-3 (Gal-3) and galectin-3 binding protein (Gal-3bp) with detection limits as low as 7.0 × 104, 2.3 × 105 and 1.8 × 103 molecules per cell, respectively. The three investigated cell types had high cytosolic levels of GAPDH and could be clearly differentiated by their expression levels of Gal-3 and Gal-3bp, which are important factors that contribute to cancer metastasis. Because it employed commercially available barcoded beads for this study, our platform could be easily used for the single-cell protein profiling of several hundred different targets. Moreover, this versatile method is applicable to the analysis of bacteria, yeast and mammalian cells and nanometre-sized lipid vesicles.

scholarly journals Cryopreservation of human cancers conserves tumour heterogeneity for single-cell multi-omics analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Z. Wu ◽  
Daniel L. Roden ◽  
Ghamdan Al-Eryani ◽  
Nenad Bartonicek ◽  
Kate Harvey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Rna Sequencing ◽  
High Throughput ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cellular Heterogeneity ◽  
Tumour Heterogeneity ◽  
Fresh Tissue ◽  
Human Cancers ◽  
Cryopreserved Cell ◽  
Single Cell Rna Sequencing

Abstract Background High throughput single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) has emerged as a powerful tool for exploring cellular heterogeneity among complex human cancers. scRNA-Seq studies using fresh human surgical tissue are logistically difficult, preclude histopathological triage of samples, and limit the ability to perform batch processing. This hindrance can often introduce technical biases when integrating patient datasets and increase experimental costs. Although tissue preservation methods have been previously explored to address such issues, it is yet to be examined on complex human tissues, such as solid cancers and on high throughput scRNA-Seq platforms. Methods Using the Chromium 10X platform, we sequenced a total of ~ 120,000 cells from fresh and cryopreserved replicates across three primary breast cancers, two primary prostate cancers and a cutaneous melanoma. We performed detailed analyses between cells from each condition to assess the effects of cryopreservation on cellular heterogeneity, cell quality, clustering and the identification of gene ontologies. In addition, we performed single-cell immunophenotyping using CITE-Seq on a single breast cancer sample cryopreserved as solid tissue fragments. Results Tumour heterogeneity identified from fresh tissues was largely conserved in cryopreserved replicates. We show that sequencing of single cells prepared from cryopreserved tissue fragments or from cryopreserved cell suspensions is comparable to sequenced cells prepared from fresh tissue, with cryopreserved cell suspensions displaying higher correlations with fresh tissue in gene expression. We showed that cryopreservation had minimal impacts on the results of downstream analyses such as biological pathway enrichment. For some tumours, cryopreservation modestly increased cell stress signatures compared to freshly analysed tissue. Further, we demonstrate the advantage of cryopreserving whole-cells for detecting cell-surface proteins using CITE-Seq, which is impossible using other preservation methods such as single nuclei-sequencing. Conclusions We show that the viable cryopreservation of human cancers provides high-quality single-cells for multi-omics analysis. Our study guides new experimental designs for tissue biobanking for future clinical single-cell RNA sequencing studies.

scholarly journals Multiplexed profiling of single-cell extracellular vesicles secretion

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (13) ◽  
pp. 5979-5984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahui Ji ◽  
Dongyuan Qi ◽  
Linmei Li ◽  
Haoran Su ◽  
Xiaojie Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Single Cell Analysis ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Cell Heterogeneity ◽  
Indispensable Tool

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important intercellular mediators regulating health and diseases. Conventional methods for EV surface marker profiling, which was based on population measurements, masked the cell-to-cell heterogeneity in the quantity and phenotypes of EV secretion. Herein, by using spatially patterned antibody barcodes, we realized multiplexed profiling of single-cell EV secretion from more than 1,000 single cells simultaneously. Applying this platform to profile human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines led to a deep understanding of previously undifferentiated single-cell heterogeneity underlying EV secretion. Notably, we observed that the decrement of certain EV phenotypes (e.g.,CD63+EV) was associated with the invasive feature of both OSCC cell lines and primary OSCC cells. We also realized multiplexed detection of EV secretion and cytokines secretion simultaneously from the same single cells to investigate the multidimensional spectrum of cellular communications, from which we resolved tiered functional subgroups with distinct secretion profiles by visualized clustering and principal component analysis. In particular, we found that different cell subgroups dominated EV secretion and cytokine secretion. The technology introduced here enables a comprehensive evaluation of EV secretion heterogeneity at single-cell level, which may become an indispensable tool to complement current single-cell analysis and EV research.

scholarly journals Multiplexed Profiling of Single-cell Extracellular Vesicles Secretion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahui Ji ◽  
Dongyuan Qi ◽  
Linmei Li ◽  
Haoran Su ◽  
Xiaojie Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Extracellular Vesicles ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Surface Markers ◽  
Cell Heterogeneity ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Cytokines Secretion

AbstractExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are important intercellular mediators regulating health and disease. Conventional EVs surface marker profiling, which was based on population measurements, masked the cell-to-cell heterogeneity in the quantity and phenotypes of EVs secretion. Herein, by using spatially patterned antibodies barcode, we realized multiplexed profiling of single-cell EVs secretion from more than 1000 single cells simultaneously. Applying this platform to profile human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines led to deep understanding of previously undifferentiated single cell heterogeneity underlying EVs secretion. Notably, we observed the decrement of certain EV phenotypes (e.g. CD63+EVs) were associated with the invasive feature of both OSCC cell lines and primary OSCC cells. We also realized multiplexed detection of EVs secretion and cytokines secretion simultaneously from the same single cells to investigate multidimensional spectrum of intercellular communications, from which we resolved three functional subgroups with distinct secretion profiles by visualized clustering. In particular, we found EVs secretion and cytokines secretion were generally dominated by different cell subgroups. The technology introduced here enables comprehensive evaluation of EVs secretion heterogeneity at single cell level, which may become an indispensable tool to complement current single cell analysis and EV research.SignificanceExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell derived nano-sized particles medicating cell-cell communication and transferring biology information molecules like nucleic acids to regulate human health and disease. Conventional methods for EV surface markers profiling can’t tell the differences in the quantity and phenotypes of EVs secretion between cells. To address this need, we developed a platform for profiling an array of surface markers on EVs from large numbers of single cells, enabling more comprehensive monitoring of cellular communications. Single cell EVs secretion assay led to previously unobserved cell heterogeneity underlying EVs secretion, which might open up new avenues for studying cell communication and cell microenvironment in both basic and clinical research.

scholarly journals Joint single cell DNA-seq and RNA-seq of gastric cancer cell lines reveals rules of in vitro evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noemi Andor ◽  
Billy T Lau ◽  
Claudia Catalanotti ◽  
Anuja Sathe ◽  
Matthew Kubit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gastric Cancer ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Cancer Cell ◽  
Gastric Cancer Cell ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Cancer Cell Lines ◽  
Gastric Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract Cancer cell lines are not homogeneous nor are they static in their genetic state and biological properties. Genetic, transcriptional and phenotypic diversity within cell lines contributes to the lack of experimental reproducibility frequently observed in tissue-culture-based studies. While cancer cell line heterogeneity has been generally recognized, there are no studies which quantify the number of clones that coexist within cell lines and their distinguishing characteristics. We used a single-cell DNA sequencing approach to characterize the cellular diversity within nine gastric cancer cell lines and integrated this information with single-cell RNA sequencing. Overall, we sequenced the genomes of 8824 cells, identifying between 2 and 12 clones per cell line. Using the transcriptomes of more than 28 000 single cells from the same cell lines, we independently corroborated 88% of the clonal structure determined from single cell DNA analysis. For one of these cell lines, we identified cell surface markers that distinguished two subpopulations and used flow cytometry to sort these two clones. We identified substantial proportions of replicating cells in each cell line, assigned these cells to subclones detected among the G0/G1 population and used the proportion of replicating cells per subclone as a surrogate of each subclone's growth rate.

scholarly journals AFM and Fluorescence Microscopy of Single Cells with Simultaneous Mechanical Stimulation via Electrically Stretchable Substrates

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4131
Author(s):  
Natalia Becerra ◽  
Barbara Salis ◽  
Mariateresa Tedesco ◽  
Susana Moreno Flores ◽  
Pasquale Vena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Culture ◽  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Optical Microscope ◽  
Average Cell ◽  
Atomic Force ◽  
Cell Stretcher

We have developed a novel experimental set-up that simultaneously, (i) applies static and dynamic deformations to adherent cells in culture, (ii) allows the visualization of cells under fluorescence microscopy, and (iii) allows atomic force microscopy nanoindentation measurements of the mechanical properties of the cells. The cell stretcher device relies on a dielectric elastomer film that can be electro-actuated and acts as the cell culture substrate. The shape and position of the electrodes actuating the film can be controlled by design in order to obtain specific deformations across the cell culture chamber. By using optical markers we characterized the strain fields under different electrode configurations and applied potentials. The combined setup, which includes the cell stretcher device, an atomic force microscope, and an inverted optical microscope, can assess in situ and with sub-micron spatial resolution single cell topography and elasticity, as well as ion fluxes, during the application of static deformations. Proof of performance on fibroblasts shows a reproducible increase in the average cell elastic modulus as a response to applied uniaxial stretch of just 4%. Additionally, high resolution topography and elasticity maps on a single fibroblast can be acquired while the cell is deformed, providing evidence of long-term instrumental stability. This study provides a proof-of-concept of a novel platform that allows in situ and real time investigation of single cell mechano-transduction phenomena with sub-cellular spatial resolution.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document