New method advances single-cell transcriptomic technologies
2021-04-08
(Press-News.org) Single-cell transcriptomic methods allow scientists to study thousands of individual cells from living organisms, one-by-one, and sequence each cell's genetic material. Genes are activated differently in each cell type, giving rise to cell types such as neurons, skin cells and muscle cells.
Single-cell transcriptomics allows scientists to identify the genes that are active in each individual cell type, and discover how these genetic differences change cellular identity and function. Careful study of this data can allow new cell types to be discovered, including previously unobserved stem cells, and help scientists trace complex developmental processes.
"Single-cell transcriptomics have revolutionised biology but are still an area in active development," explains Helena Garcia Castro, a PhD student in the Department of Biological and Medical Science at Oxford Brookes University and co-author of the paper.
"Current methods use cell dissociation protocols with 'live' tissues, which put cells under stress, causing them to change, and limiting accurate investigations."
To solve this problem, the research team used historical research and revived a process from the 19th and 20th centuries to create the ACME (ACetic acid MEthanol dissociation) method.
Scientists realised that with this method, cells did not suffer from the dissociation as it stops their biological activity and 'fixes' them from the very beginning of the investigation.
The ACME method then allows cells to be cryopreserved, one or several times throughout the process, either immediately after the dissociation process, in the field or when doing multi-step protocols.
Dr Jordi Solana, Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University adds: "This means scientists can now exchange samples between labs, preserve the cell material and large sample sets can be frozen in order to be analysed simultaneously, without destroying the integrity of the genetic material in the cell.
"We took the method from the old papers and repurposed it to make it work with current single-cell transcriptomic techniques. With our new method, we will now set out to characterise cell types in many animals."
Scientists are now able to collaborate with other laboratories and research a wider variety of animal cells, thanks to the ACME method. This would not have been possible without the technology to dissociate and freeze live cell tissues.
INFORMATION:
The paper, ACME dissociation: a versatile cell fixation-dissociation method for single-cell transcriptomics, is published in Genome Biology.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-04-08
WHAT:
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a test to evaluate the expressive language skills of people with Down syndrome, a condition resulting from an extra copy or piece of chromosome 21. Expressive language is the use of words to convey meaning to others. Language delays are common in people with Down syndrome, and the study authors believe their test provides a more effective way to evaluate prospective language interventions, compared to current evaluation methods.
The study was conducted by Angela Thurman, Ph.D., of the University of California, Davis, and ...
2021-04-07
Cancer doctors may soon have a new tool for treating melanoma and other types of cancer, thanks to work being done by researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center.
In a paper published in the journal PNAS last month, CU Cancer Center members Mayumi Fujita, MD, PhD, Angelo D'Alessandro, PhD, Morkos Henen, PhD, MS, Beat Vogeli, PhD, Eric Pietras, PhD, James DeGregori, PhD, Carlo Marchetti, PhD, and Charles Dinarello, MD, along with Isak Tengesdal, MS, a graduate student in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, detail their work on NLRP3, an intracellular complex that has been found to participate in melanoma-mediated inflammation, leading to tumor growth and progression. By ...
2021-04-07
ZANZIBAR CITY (April 7, 2021) - A new study revealed that a drastic reduction of deaths of one of Africa's rarest primates, the Zanzibar red colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii), followed the installation of four speedbumps along a stretch of road where the species frequently crossed.
Zanzibar red colobus are found only in the Zanzibar archipelago and classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Reliant on Unguja Island's forests for their survival, around half of the species population is found in Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park.
In the study, published ...
2021-04-07
Eight months after mild COVID-19, one in ten people still has at least one moderate to severe symptom that is perceived as having a negative impact on their work, social or home life. The most common long-term symptoms are a loss of smell and taste and fatigue. This is according to a study published in the journal JAMA, conducted by researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
Since spring 2020, researchers at Danderyd Hospital and Karolinska Institutet have conducted the so-called COMMUNITY study, with the main purpose of examining immunity after COVID-19. In the first phase of the study in spring 2020, blood samples were collected from 2,149 employees at Danderyd Hospital, of whom about 19 percent had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. Blood samples have since ...
2021-04-07
With a lethal, airborne virus spreading fast, hospitals had to change how they treated patients and policies for how caregivers provided that treatment. But for maternity patients and nurses some of those changes had negative outcomes, according to a new University of Washington study.
"We found that visitor restrictions and separation policies were harming families and nurses. The effects for patients included loneliness, isolation and mistrust, while nurses described mistrust and low morale," said Molly Altman, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the UW School of Nursing.
Importantly, Altman added, both nurses and patients described how COVID "amplified existing ...
2021-04-07
LA JOLLA--(April 7, 2021) When cells are stressed, chemical alarms go off, setting in motion a flurry of activity that protects the cell's most important players. During the rush, a protein called Parkin hurries to protect the mitochondria, the power stations that generate energy for the cell. Now Salk researchers have discovered a direct link between a master sensor of cell stress and Parkin itself. The same pathway is also tied to type 2 diabetes and cancer, which could open a new avenue for treating all three diseases.
"Our findings represent the earliest step in Parkin's alarm response that anyone's ever found by a long shot. ...
2021-04-07
New medicines for people who have diabetes seem to pop up all the time. Drugs that help the body break down carbohydrates, drugs that increase excretion of glucose in the urine, drugs that help muscles respond to insulin and drugs that stimulate the pancreas to produce it -- the list of pharmaceutical options to treat diabetes gets longer and longer.
The downside of this wealth of treatment options is that it can be difficult for health care providers to stay on top of the latest research and standards of care. Which medication is best for which patients? And what are the best medicines to prescribe that both lower blood glucose and reduce risk for cardiovascular disease?
Johns Hopkins Medicine endocrinologist ...
2021-04-07
How many species of birds are there in the world? It depends on whose count you go by. The number could be as low as 10,000 or as high as 18,000. It's tough to standardize lists of species because the concept of a "species" itself is a little bit fuzzy.
That matters because conserving biodiversity requires knowing what diversity exists in the first place. So biologists, led by University of Utah doctoral candidate Monte Neate-Clegg of the School of Biological Sciences, set out to compare four main lists of bird species worldwide to find out how the lists differ--and why. They found that although the lists agree on most birds, disagreements in some regions ...
2021-04-07
A new analysis of lung epithelial cells from COVID-19 patients reveals how the protective complement branch of the immune system, which usually plays roles in both innate and adaptive immunity, can convert to a harmful system during COVID-19. Blocking excessive complement activity in lung epithelial cells with a combination of existing chemotherapy and antiviral medications - ruxolitinib and remdesivir, respectively - helped normalize the production of complement proteins by infected lung epithelial cells in human cell culture experiments, the researchers found. Thus, the drug duo could serve as a promising strategy to treat damaging inflammation during severe COVID-19, the authors say. Overactivation of complement proteins can contribute to diseases such as acute respiratory distress ...
2021-04-07
HERSHEY, Pa.-- Social distancing and lockdowns may have reduced the spread of COVID-19, but researchers from Penn State College of Medicine also report those actions may have affected clinical researchers' ability to finish trials. Study completion rates dropped worldwide between 13% and 23%, depending on the type of research sponsor and geographic location, between April and October 2020.
Researchers previously reported that more than 80% of clinical trials suspended between March 1 and April 26, 2020, noted the pandemic as their chief reason for halting activity. Patient enrollment in studies was lower in April 2020, compared to April ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] New method advances single-cell transcriptomic technologies
