1
|
Tzaferis C, Karatzas E, Baltoumas FA, Pavlopoulos GA, Kollias G, Konstantopoulos D. SCALA: A complete solution for multimodal analysis of single-cell Next Generation Sequencing data. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2023; 21:5382-5393. [PMID: 38022693 PMCID: PMC10651449 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2023.10.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Analysis and interpretation of high-throughput transcriptional and chromatin accessibility data at single-cell (sc) resolution are still open challenges in the biomedical field. The existence of countless bioinformatics tools, for the different analytical steps, increases the complexity of data interpretation and the difficulty to derive biological insights. In this article, we present SCALA, a bioinformatics tool for analysis and visualization of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (scATAC-seq) datasets, enabling either independent or integrative analysis of the two modalities. SCALA combines standard types of analysis by integrating multiple software packages varying from quality control to the identification of distinct cell populations and cell states. Additional analysis options enable functional enrichment, cellular trajectory inference, ligand-receptor analysis, and regulatory network reconstruction. SCALA is fully parameterizable, presenting data in tabular format and producing publication-ready visualizations. The different available analysis modules can aid biomedical researchers in exploring, analyzing, and visualizing their data without any prior experience in coding. We demonstrate the functionality of SCALA through two use-cases related to TNF-driven arthritic mice, handling both scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq datasets. SCALA is developed in R, Shiny and JavaScript and is mainly available as a standalone version, while an online service of more limited capacity can be found at http://scala.pavlopouloslab.info or https://scala.fleming.gr.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christos Tzaferis
- Institute for Bioinnovation, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
| | - Evangelos Karatzas
- Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
| | - Fotis A. Baltoumas
- Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
| | - Georgios A. Pavlopoulos
- Institute for Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
- Research Institute of New Biotechnologies and Precision Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - George Kollias
- Institute for Bioinnovation, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
- Research Institute of New Biotechnologies and Precision Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- Department of Physiology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
| | - Dimitris Konstantopoulos
- Institute for Bioinnovation, Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming", Vari, Greece
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nick JA, Malcolm KC, Hisert KB, Wheeler EA, Rysavy NM, Poch K, Caceres S, Lovell VK, Armantrout E, Saavedra MT, Calhoun K, Chatterjee D, Aboellail I, De P, Martiniano SL, Jia F, Davidson RM. Culture independent markers of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection and disease in the cystic fibrosis airway. Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2023; 138:102276. [PMID: 36417800 PMCID: PMC10965158 DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2022.102276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2022] [Revised: 11/12/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are opportunistic pathogens that affect a relatively small but significant portion of the people with cystic fibrosis (CF), and may cause increased morbidity and mortality in this population. Cultures from the airway are the only test currently in clinical use for detecting NTM. Culture techniques used in clinical laboratories are insensitive and poorly suited for population screening or to follow progression of disease or treatment response. The lack of sensitive and quantitative markers of NTM in the airway impedes patient care and clinical trial design, and has limited our understanding of patterns of acquisition, latency and pathogenesis of disease. Culture-independent markers of NTM infection have the potential to overcome many of the limitations of standard NTM cultures, especially the very slow growth, inability to quantitate bacterial burden, and low sensitivity due to required decontamination procedures. A range of markers have been identified in sputum, saliva, breath, blood, urine, as well as radiographic studies. Proposed markers to detect presence of NTM or transition to NTM disease include bacterial cell wall products and DNA, as well as markers of host immune response such as immunoglobulins and the gene expression of circulating leukocytes. In all cases the sensitivity of culture-independent markers is greater than standard cultures; however, most do not discriminate between various NTM species. Thus, each marker may be best suited for a specific clinical application, or combined with other markers and traditional cultures to improve diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jerry A Nick
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
| | - Kenneth C Malcolm
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Katherine B Hisert
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Emily A Wheeler
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Noel M Rysavy
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Katie Poch
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Silvia Caceres
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Valerie K Lovell
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Emily Armantrout
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Milene T Saavedra
- Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Kara Calhoun
- Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Delphi Chatterjee
- Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, 1682 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Ibrahim Aboellail
- Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, 1682 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Prithwiraj De
- Mycobacteria Research Laboratories, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, 1682 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Stacey L Martiniano
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Colorado, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Fan Jia
- Center for Genes, Environment, and Health, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| | - Rebecca M Davidson
- Center for Genes, Environment, and Health, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, 80206, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Sreenivasan VKA, Henck J, Spielmann M. Single-cell sequencing: promises and challenges for human genetics. MED GENET-BERLIN 2022; 34:261-273. [PMID: 38836091 PMCID: PMC11006387 DOI: 10.1515/medgen-2022-2156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Over the last decade, single-cell sequencing has transformed many fields. It has enabled the unbiased molecular phenotyping of even whole organisms with unprecedented cellular resolution. In the field of human genetics, where the phenotypic consequences of genetic and epigenetic alterations are of central concern, this transformative technology promises to functionally annotate every region in the human genome and all possible variants within them at a massive scale. In this review aimed at the clinicians in human genetics, we describe the current status of the field of single-cell sequencing and its role for human genetics, including how the technology works as well as how it is being applied to characterize and monitor diseases, to develop human cell atlases, and to annotate the genome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Varun K A Sreenivasan
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck and Kiel University, 23562 Lübeck, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Jana Henck
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck and Kiel University, 23562 Lübeck, 24105 Kiel, Germany
- Human Molecular Genomics Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
| | - Malte Spielmann
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, University of Lübeck and Kiel University, 23562 Lübeck, 24105 Kiel, Germany
- Human Molecular Genomics Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, D-14195 Berlin, Germany
- DZHK e. V. (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), Partner Site Hamburg/Kiel/Lübeck, 23538 Lübeck, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Geraldes I, Fernandes M, Fraga AG, Osório NS. The impact of single-cell genomics on the field of mycobacterial infection. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:989464. [PMID: 36246265 PMCID: PMC9562642 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.989464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome sequencing projects of humans and other organisms reinforced that the complexity of biological systems is largely attributed to the tight regulation of gene expression at the epigenome and RNA levels. As a consequence, plenty of technological developments arose to increase the sequencing resolution to the cell dimension creating the single-cell genomics research field. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is leading the advances in this topic and comprises a vast array of different methodologies. scRNA-seq and its variants are more and more used in life science and biomedical research since they provide unbiased transcriptomic sequencing of large populations of individual cells. These methods go beyond the previous “bulk” methodologies and sculpt the biological understanding of cellular heterogeneity and dynamic transcriptomic states of cellular populations in immunology, oncology, and developmental biology fields. Despite the large burden caused by mycobacterial infections, advances in this field obtained via single-cell genomics had been comparatively modest. Nonetheless, seminal research publications using single-cell transcriptomics to study host cells infected by mycobacteria have become recently available. Here, we review these works summarizing the most impactful findings and emphasizing the different and recent single-cell methodologies used, potential issues, and problems. In addition, we aim at providing insights into current research gaps and potential future developments related to the use of single-cell genomics to study mycobacterial infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Inês Geraldes
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's—PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
| | - Mónica Fernandes
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's—PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
| | - Alexandra G. Fraga
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's—PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
| | - Nuno S. Osório
- Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
- ICVS/3B's—PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Portugal
- *Correspondence: Nuno S. Osório
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ke M, Elshenawy B, Sheldon H, Arora A, Buffa FM. Single cell RNA-sequencing: A powerful yet still challenging technology to study cellular heterogeneity. Bioessays 2022; 44:e2200084. [PMID: 36068142 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202200084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Almost all biomedical research to date has relied upon mean measurements from cell populations, however it is well established that what it is observed at this macroscopic level can be the result of many interactions of several different single cells. Thus, the observable macroscopic 'average' cannot outright be used as representative of the 'average cell'. Rather, it is the resulting emerging behaviour of the actions and interactions of many different cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) enables the comparison of the transcriptomes of individual cells. This provides high-resolution maps of the dynamic cellular programmes allowing us to answer fundamental biological questions on their function and evolution. It also allows to address medical questions such as the role of rare cell populations contributing to disease progression and therapeutic resistance. Furthermore, it provides an understanding of context-specific dependencies, namely the behaviour and function that a cell has in a specific context, which can be crucial to understand some complex diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Here, we provide an overview of scRNA-Seq, including a comparative review of emerging technologies and computational pipelines. We discuss the current and emerging applications and focus on tumour heterogeneity a clear example of how scRNA-Seq can provide new understanding of a complex disease. Additionally, we review the limitations and highlight the need of powerful computational pipelines and reproducible protocols for the broader acceptance of this technique in basic and clinical research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- May Ke
- Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Badran Elshenawy
- Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Helen Sheldon
- Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Anjali Arora
- Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Francesca M Buffa
- Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Department of Computing Sciences, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy.,Institute for Data Science and Analytics, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Swidergall M, LeibundGut-Landmann S. Immunosurveillance of Candida albicans commensalism by the adaptive immune system. Mucosal Immunol 2022; 15:829-836. [PMID: 35778599 PMCID: PMC9385492 DOI: 10.1038/s41385-022-00536-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The fungal microbiota (mycobiota) is an integral part of the microbial community colonizing the body surfaces and is involved in many key aspects of human physiology, while an imbalance of the fungal communities, termed fungal dysbiosis, has been described in pathologies ranging from infections to inflammatory bowel disease. Commensal organisms, such as the fungus Candida albicans, induce antigen-specific immune responses that maintain immune homeostasis. Adaptive immune mechanisms are vital in this process, while deficiencies in adaptive immunity are linked to fungal infections. We start to understand the mechanisms by which a shift in mycobiota composition, in particular in C. albicans abundance, is linked to immunopathological conditions. This review discusses the mechanisms that ensure continuous immunosurveillance of C. albicans during mucosal colonization, how these protective adaptive immune responses can also promote immunopathology, and highlight therapeutic advances against C. albicans-associated disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marc Swidergall
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA
- The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA
- David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Salomé LeibundGut-Landmann
- Section of Immunology, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
- Institute of Experimental Immunology, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|