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Systematic assessment of tissue dissociation and storage biases in single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq workflows

ABSTRACT: Background: Single-cell RNA sequencing has been widely adopted to estimate the cellular composition of heterogeneous tissues and obtain transcriptional profiles of individual cells. Multiple approaches for optimal sample dissociation and storage of single cells have been proposed as have single-nuclei profiling methods. What has been lacking is a systematic comparison of their relative biases and benefits. Results: Here, we compare gene expression and cellular composition of single cell suspensions prepared from adult mouse kidney using two tissue dissociation protocols. For each sample we also compare fresh cells to cryopreserved and methanol-fixed cells. Lastly, we compare this single-cell data to that generated using three single-nucleus RNA sequencing workflows. Our data confirms prior reports that digestion on ice avoids the stress response observed with 37°C dissociation. It also reveals cell types more abundant either in the cold or warm dissociations that may represent populations that require gentler or harsher conditions to be released intact. For cell storage, cryopreservation of dissociated cells results in a major loss of epithelial cell types; in contrast, methanol fixation maintains the cellular composition but suffers from ambient RNA leakage. Finally, cell type composition differences are observed between single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing libraries. In particular, we note an under-representation of T, B and NK lymphocytes in the single-nucleus libraries. Conclusions: Systematic comparison of recovered cell types and their transcriptional profiles across the workflows has highlighted protocol-specific biases and thus enables researchers starting single cell experiments to make an informed choice.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE141115 | GEO | 2020/05/11

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The use of single cell transcriptomics provides previously inaccessible insights into cellular heterogeneity and lineage dynamics of the mammary gland allowing for a better understanding of normal mammary gland function as well as breast cancer initiation and progression. Especially for human mammary gland research, limited tissue accessibility and restriction to ex vivo techniques reinforce the importance of reliable cross-study comparison of single-cell transcriptomic data. However, it is unclear to what extent differences in breast tissue dissociation influence composition and transcriptomic profiles of isolated cells. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to compare human mammary cell populations isolated from a single mammoplasty patient by varying enzymatic dissociation protocols differing in duration (3 or 16 hours) and agitation speed (10 rpm or 100 rpm). Protocol A (3 hours, 100 rpm), protocol B (16 hours, 100 rpm) and protocol C (16 hours, 10 rpm) were used to extract cell fragments from tissue which were either frozen down directly or further dissociated into single cells prior to cryopreservation. Samples were then prepared together for 10x scRNA-sequencing, where the fragments were defrosted and freshly dissociated and were loaded together with the defrosted single cells. From each of the protocols we sequenced similar numbers of cells isolated from fragments (Protocol A: 3,586 cells, Protocol B: 2,809 cells and Protocol C: 4,796 cells), finding an average of 7,427 unique molecular identifiers and 2,445 genes detected per cell. Overall, we detected a greater abundance and heterogeneity of stromal cell types, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells at a lower agitation speed. Moreover, an extended duration of tissue dissociation governed an overall cellular oxidative stress response together with a downregulation of breast cancer associated genes and a cell-type specific downregulation of lineage markers. Thus, our systematic analysis of dissociation-induced compositional and transcriptional bias in human breast tissue samples yields useful information to avoid misinterpretation of cellular heterogeneity and lineage composition.

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Systematic assessment of tissue dissociation and storage biases in single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq workflows

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