Genome-wide profiling of nucleosome position and chromatin accessibility in single cells using scMNase-seq

Nat Protoc. 2020 Jan;15(1):68-85. doi: 10.1038/s41596-019-0243-6. Epub 2019 Dec 13.

Abstract

Nucleosome organization is important for chromatin compaction and accessibility. Profiling nucleosome positioning genome-wide in single cells provides critical information to understand the cell-to-cell heterogeneity of chromatin states within a cell population. This protocol describes single-cell micrococcal nuclease sequencing (scMNase-seq), a method for detecting genome-wide nucleosome positioning and chromatin accessibility simultaneously from a small number of cells or single cells. To generate scMNase-seq libraries, single cells are isolated by FACS sorting, lysed and digested by MNase. DNA is purified, end-repaired and ligated to Y-shaped adaptors. Following PCR amplification with indexing primers, the subnucleosome-sized (fragments with a length of ≤80 bp) and mononucleosome-sized (fragments with a length between 140 and 180 bp) DNA fragments are recovered and sequenced on Illumina HiSeq platforms. On average, 0.5-1 million unique mapped reads are obtained for each single cell. The mononucleosome-sized DNA fragments precisely define genome-wide nucleosome positions in single cells, while the subnucleosome-sized DNA fragments provide information on chromatin accessibility. Library preparation of scMNase-seq takes only 2 d, requires only standard molecular biology techniques and does not require sophisticated laboratory equipment. Processing of high-throughput sequencing data requires basic bioinformatics skills and uses publicly available bioinformatics software.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromatin / genetics*
  • Genomics*
  • Mice
  • Micrococcal Nuclease / metabolism*
  • NIH 3T3 Cells
  • Nucleosomes / genetics*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA / methods*
  • Single-Cell Analysis / methods*

Substances

  • Chromatin
  • Nucleosomes
  • Micrococcal Nuclease