login

Revolutionizing immunology with single-cell RNA sequencing

Cellular and Molecular ImmunologyPublished 22 February 2019Open access
Haide Chen, Fang Ye, Guoji Guo
Citations235
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score5.92
SNIP3.29
View PDF

TL;DR

This review introduces the existing sc RNA-seq technologies and presents their strengths and weaknesses, and discusses potential applications and future innovations of scRNA-seq in immunology.

Abstract

The immune system is composed of a complex hierarchy of cell types that protect the organism against disease and maintain homeostasis. Identifying heterogeneity of immune cells is the key to understanding the immune system. Advanced single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technologies are revolutionizing our ability to study immunology. By measuring transcriptomes at the single-cell level, scRNA-seq enables identification of cellular heterogeneity in far greater detail than conventional methods. In this review, we introduce the existing scRNA-seq technologies and present their strengths and weaknesses. We also discuss potential applications and future innovations of scRNA-seq in immunology.

Keywords

Immunology and MicrobiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology