Quantitative and multiplexed chemical-genetic phenotyping in mammalian cells with QMAP-Seq

Nat Commun. 2020 Nov 12;11(1):5722. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19553-8.

Abstract

Chemical-genetic interaction profiling in model organisms has proven powerful in providing insights into compound mechanism of action and gene function. However, identifying chemical-genetic interactions in mammalian systems has been limited to low-throughput or computational methods. Here, we develop Quantitative and Multiplexed Analysis of Phenotype by Sequencing (QMAP-Seq), which leverages next-generation sequencing for pooled high-throughput chemical-genetic profiling. We apply QMAP-Seq to investigate how cellular stress response factors affect therapeutic response in cancer. Using minimal automation, we treat pools of 60 cell types-comprising 12 genetic perturbations in five cell lines-with 1440 compound-dose combinations, generating 86,400 chemical-genetic measurements. QMAP-Seq produces precise and accurate quantitative measures of acute drug response comparable to gold standard assays, but with increased throughput at lower cost. Moreover, QMAP-Seq reveals clinically actionable drug vulnerabilities and functional relationships involving these stress response factors, many of which are activated in cancer. Thus, QMAP-Seq provides a broadly accessible and scalable strategy for chemical-genetic profiling in mammalian cells.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics
  • Cell Engineering
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Survival
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods*
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / methods*
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays / methods
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / genetics
  • Phenotype*
  • Systems Biology / methods