Cell fixation and preservation for droplet-based single-cell transcriptomics.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Recent developments in droplet-based microfluidics allow the transcriptional profiling of thousands of individual cells in a quantitative, highly parallel and cost-effective way. A critical, often limiting step is the preparation of cells in an unperturbed state, not altered by stress or ageing. Other challenges are rare cells that need to be collected over several days or samples prepared at different times or locations. METHODS:Here, we used chemical fixation to address these problems. Methanol fixation allowed us to stabilise and preserve dissociated cells for weeks without compromising single-cell RNA sequencing data. RESULTS:By using mixtures of fixed, cultured human and mouse cells, we first showed that individual transcriptomes could be confidently assigned to one of the

SUBMITTER: Alles J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5438562 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature