文献_2014-the promise of single-cell sequencing.pdf

| method of the year COMMENTARY special feature The promise of single-cell sequencing 1,2 1 3 2,4 James Eberwine , Jai-Yoon Sul , Tamas Bartfai Junhyong Kim Individual cells of the same phenotype are commonly viewed as identical functional units of a tissue or organ. However, the deep sequencing of DNA and RNA from single cells suggests a more complex ecology of heterogeneous cell states that together produce emergent system-level function. Continuing development of high-content, real-time, multimodal single-cell measurement technologies will lead to the ultimate goal of understanding the function of an individual cell in the context of its microenvironment. . d e Since 1665, when Robert Hooke used the level, and the nature of this cellular ecology, is or nanotube to harvest the cytoplasmic con- v r e term “cell” to describe a structure in cork fertile territory for exploration. Furthermore, tents of single cells is a common method for s e r s that he observed under his microscope, cells if we posit that cellular phenotype is a func- the isolation of cellular RNA, but it may t 3 h g have been objects of intense study. Although tion of the local ecology of individual cells , leave cellular subcompartments behind. i r the existence of distinct cell types was obvi- how many such distinct ecologies exist in a Microfluidic device