Open Access

VIEWPOINT

Synergy of single-cell sequencing analyses and in vivo lineage-tracing approaches: A new opportunity for stem cell biology

YUKI MATSUSHITA, WANIDA ONO, NORIAKI ONO^*

School of Dentistry, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, 77054, USA

* Address correspondence to: Noriaki Ono,

(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Single Cell Analysis: Technology and Application)

BIOCELL 2022, 46(5), 1157-1162. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2022.018960

Received 24 August 2021; Accepted 05 November 2021; Issue published 06 January 2022

Abstract

Single-cell sequencing technologies have rapidly progressed in recent years, and been applied to characterize stem cells in a number of organs. Somatic (postnatal) stem cells are generally identified using combinations of cell surface markers and transcription factors. However, it has been challenging to define micro-heterogeneity within “stem cell” populations, each of which stands at a different level of differentiation. As stem cells become defined at a single-cell level, their differentiation path becomes clearly defined. Here, this viewpoint discusses the potential synergy of single-cell sequencing analyses with in vivo lineage-tracing approaches, with an emphasis on practical considerations in stem cell biology.

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Keywords

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