Single-Cell Multi-omics: An Engine for New Quantitative Models of Gene Regulation

Abstract

Cells in a multicellular organism fulfill specific functions by enacting cell-type-specific programs of gene regulation. Single-cell RNA sequencing technologies have provided a transformative view of cell-type-specific gene expression, the output of cell-type-specific gene regulatory programs. This review discusses new single-cell genomic technologies that complement single-cell RNA sequencing by providing additional readouts of cellular state beyond the transcriptome. We highlight regression models as a simple yet powerful approach to relate gene expression to other aspects of cellular state, and in doing so, gain insights into the biochemical mechanisms that are necessary to produce a given gene expression output.