This webinar will discuss two potentially disruptive technologies — spatial transcriptomics and single-cell methylome combinatorial indexing (sci-MET) — along with considerations for implementing them in a core facility setting.

Spatial transcriptomics combines traditional histological information with genome-wide transcriptome data by using high-resolution tissue imaging and RNA capture. This is made possible by placing thin tissue sections on microscopic glass slides, which are covered with spatially barcoded cDNA primers. Researchers using this technology have produced high-quality data from a variety of tissue types (for example brain, breast cancer, prostate cancer and heart) and organisms (human, mouse, and plants) and spatially barcoded arrays have also been applied to study single cells in solution.

Single-cell combinatorial indexing (sci-) is a robust and generalizable protocol family developed for the interrogation of single-cell omics. Sci- protocols follow a shared strategy of forming a unique barcode per nuclei through multiple iterations of indexing, pooling, and random sampling. With this method, protocols for single-cell library generation assaying the transcriptome, chromatin accessibility, genome-wide copy-number variation, chromatin conformation, and most recently, the methylome have been described. The methylome protocol (sci-MET) was used to generate 3,282 high-quality single-cell whole-genome methylation libraries. With low coverage, sparse methylation information was shown to be sufficient in discriminating cell types, both in a synthetic mixture of cell lines and in a neuronal subtype from mouse cortical samples. Sci-MET, as well as the other sci- protocols, provide an avenue for high-throughput single-cell omics necessary to interrogate the nuance and complexity of complex and developing tissue. 

In this webinar, our panelists will discuss specifics of these technologies and their applications, within a particular focus on their implementation in core facilities.

For more information on other webinar in this series, click here.