Single-Cell Genomic Analysis
Applying single-cell RNA-seq to identify new markers of disease
Full-length scRNA-seq and 3′ scRNAseq
Full-length scATAC-seq and 3′ scATACseq
Full-length snRNA-seq and 3′ snRNAseq
liquid biopsies
early detection
cancer heterogeneity
lung cancer
breast cancer
Alzheimer disease
biomarker discovery
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 that led to the discovery of putative biomarkers for early detection of lung cancer. In 2021, the Marignani Lab added the 10X Genomics Chromium to their single cell transcriptomic platforms.