Applying single-cell RNA-seq to identify new markers of disease
Advancements in whole-genome and -transcriptome sequencing provides an unbiased approach for discovering more details about a given disease. Advancements in next generation sequencing and microfluidics enables mapping of gene expression at the level of the individual cell, allowing for interrogation of tumour cell heterogeneity of cell population using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Where conventional RNA-seq allows for differential expressed gene (DEG) analysis, scRNA-seq permits the identification of highly variable genes within individual cells and across cell populations.
Our lab uses scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq and snRNA-seq for the purpose of identifying new markers for the various cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. In 2018, Dr. Marignani was instrumental at bringing the Fluidigm C1 Platform to Dalhousie University to establish the first ever single-cell genomics platform in Atlantic Canada. Dr. Marignani and her team were awarded the Illumina–New Brunswick Center for Precision Medicine Lab Partnership Program in 2019. In 2021, the Marignani Lab began using the Singulator 100 System for automated tissue dissociation from fresh (sc/snRNA-seq) and frozen (snRNA/snATAC-seq) tissues.
Key words:
- scRNA-seq
- scATAC-seq
- snRNA-seq
- liquid biopsies
- early detection
- cancer heterogeneity
- lung cancer
- breast cancer
- Alzheimer disease
- biomarker discovery
Marignani Discovery Research Laboratory 