Abstract
The complex cellular heterogeneity of the lung poses a unique challenge to researchers in the field. While the use of bulk RNA sequencing has become a ubiquitous technology in systems biology, the technique necessarily averages out individual contributions to the overall transcriptional landscape of a tissue. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides a robust, unbiased survey of the transcriptome comparable to bulk RNA sequencing while preserving information on cellular heterogeneity. In just a few years since this technology was developed, scRNA-seq has already been adopted widely in respiratory research and has contributed to impressive advancements such as the discoveries of the pulmonary ionocyte and of a profibrotic macrophage population in pulmonary fibrosis. In this review, we discuss general technical considerations when considering the use of scRNA-seq and examine how leading investigators have applied the technology to gain novel insights into respiratory biology, from development to disease. In addition, we discuss the evolution of single-cell technologies with a focus on spatial and multi-omics approaches that promise to drive continued innovation in respiratory research.
Abstract
Single-cell RNA sequencing is being used more and more in respiratory research. This technology can be leveraged in different ways in studies of lung development, structure and function, and lung diseases from pulmonary fibrosis to asthma to lung cancer. https://bit.ly/36TdvJT
Footnotes
Provenance: Commissioned article, peer reviewed.
Conflict of interest: M.J. Alexander has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: G.R.S. Budinger has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: P.A. Reyfman has nothing to disclose.
Support statement: Funding support was received from ATS Foundation/Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. Research Fellowship in IPF, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL071643, K08HL146943, T32HLO76139), National Institute on Aging (AG049665), Parker Foundation (Parker B. Francis Fellowship), and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (BX000201). Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry.
- Received March 6, 2020.
- Accepted May 21, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020.
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.