High-throughput targeted long-read single cell sequencing reveals the clonal and transcriptional landscape of lymphocytes

Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 16;10(1):3120. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-11049-4.

Abstract

High-throughput single-cell RNA sequencing is a powerful technique but only generates short reads from one end of a cDNA template, limiting the reconstruction of highly diverse sequences such as antigen receptors. To overcome this limitation, we combined targeted capture and long-read sequencing of T-cell-receptor (TCR) and B-cell-receptor (BCR) mRNA transcripts with short-read transcriptome profiling of barcoded single-cell libraries generated by droplet-based partitioning. We show that Repertoire and Gene Expression by Sequencing (RAGE-Seq) can generate accurate full-length antigen receptor sequences at nucleotide resolution, infer B-cell clonal evolution and identify alternatively spliced BCR transcripts. We apply RAGE-Seq to 7138 cells sampled from the primary tumor and draining lymph node of a breast cancer patient to track transcriptome profiles of expanded lymphocyte clones across tissues. Our results demonstrate that RAGE-Seq is a powerful method for tracking the clonal evolution from large numbers of lymphocytes applicable to the study of immunity, autoimmunity and cancer.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Clonal Evolution / genetics*
  • Clonal Evolution / immunology
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods
  • Humans
  • Lymphocytes / metabolism*
  • Primary Cell Culture
  • Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / genetics
  • Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / metabolism
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / genetics
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / metabolism
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / methods
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*

Substances

  • Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell
  • Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell