Lineage tracing meets single-cell omics: opportunities and challenges

Nat Rev Genet. 2020 Jul;21(7):410-427. doi: 10.1038/s41576-020-0223-2. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Abstract

A fundamental goal of developmental and stem cell biology is to map the developmental history (ontogeny) of differentiated cell types. Recent advances in high-throughput single-cell sequencing technologies have enabled the construction of comprehensive transcriptional atlases of adult tissues and of developing embryos from measurements of up to millions of individual cells. Parallel advances in sequencing-based lineage-tracing methods now facilitate the mapping of clonal relationships onto these landscapes and enable detailed comparisons between molecular and mitotic histories. Here we review recent progress and challenges, as well as the opportunities that emerge when these two complementary representations of cellular history are synthesized into integrated models of cell differentiation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomarkers
  • Cell Differentiation / genetics
  • Cell Lineage / genetics*
  • Cell Tracking / methods
  • Genomics* / methods
  • Genomics* / standards
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / standards
  • Stem Cells / cytology
  • Stem Cells / metabolism

Substances

  • Biomarkers