Scaling by shrinking: empowering single-cell 'omics' with microfluidic devices.

Nat Rev Genet
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Recent advances in cellular profiling have demonstrated substantial heterogeneity in the behaviour of cells once deemed 'identical', challenging fundamental notions of cell 'type' and 'state'. Not surprisingly, these findings have elicited substantial interest in deeply characterizing the diversity, interrelationships and plasticity among cellular phenotypes. To explore these questions, experimental platforms are needed that can extensively and controllably profile many individual cells. Here, microfluidic structures - whether valve-, droplet- or nanowell-based - have an important role because they can facilitate easy capture and processing of single cells and their components, reducing labour and costs relative to conventional plate-based methods while also improving consistency. In this article, we review the current state-of-the-art methodologies with respect to microfluidics for mammalian single-cell 'omics' and discuss challenges and future opportunities.

Year of Publication
2017
Journal
Nat Rev Genet
Volume
18
Issue
6
Pages
345-361
Date Published
2017 06
ISSN
1471-0064
DOI
10.1038/nrg.2017.15
PubMed ID
28392571
PubMed Central ID
PMC5495114
Links
Grant list
P01 GM096971 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
DP2 GM119419 / GM / NIGMS NIH HHS / United States
P01 HL120839 / HL / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
P50 HG006193 / HG / NHGRI NIH HHS / United States
R01 EB014703 / EB / NIBIB NIH HHS / United States
U24 AI118672 / AI / NIAID NIH HHS / United States