Joint profiling of histone modifications and transcriptome in single cells from mouse brain

Nat Methods. 2021 Mar;18(3):283-292. doi: 10.1038/s41592-021-01060-3. Epub 2021 Feb 15.

Abstract

Genome-wide profiling of histone modifications can reveal not only the location and activity state of regulatory elements, but also the regulatory mechanisms involved in cell-type-specific gene expression during development and disease pathology. Conventional assays to profile histone modifications in bulk tissues lack single-cell resolution. Here we describe an ultra-high-throughput method, Paired-Tag, for joint profiling of histone modifications and transcriptome in single cells to produce cell-type-resolved maps of chromatin state and transcriptome in complex tissues. We used this method to profile five histone modifications jointly with transcriptome in the adult mouse frontal cortex and hippocampus. Integrative analysis of the resulting maps identified distinct groups of genes subject to divergent epigenetic regulatory mechanisms. Our single-cell multiomics approach enables comprehensive analysis of chromatin state and gene regulation in complex tissues and characterization of gene regulatory programs in the constituent cell types.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Chromatin / metabolism
  • Epigenesis, Genetic / genetics
  • Frontal Lobe / cytology
  • Frontal Lobe / metabolism*
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation / genetics*
  • HeLa Cells
  • Hippocampus / cytology
  • Hippocampus / metabolism*
  • Histone Code / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid / genetics*
  • Single-Cell Analysis
  • Transcriptome / genetics

Substances

  • Chromatin