Genome Biology (May 2020)

Sampling time-dependent artifacts in single-cell genomics studies

  • Ramon Massoni-Badosa,
  • Giovanni Iacono,
  • Catia Moutinho,
  • Marta Kulis,
  • Núria Palau,
  • Domenica Marchese,
  • Javier Rodríguez-Ubreva,
  • Esteban Ballestar,
  • Gustavo Rodriguez-Esteban,
  • Sara Marsal,
  • Marta Aymerich,
  • Dolors Colomer,
  • Elias Campo,
  • Antonio Julià,
  • José Ignacio Martín-Subero,
  • Holger Heyn

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02032-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 1
pp. 1 – 16

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Robust protocols and automation now enable large-scale single-cell RNA and ATAC sequencing experiments and their application on biobank and clinical cohorts. However, technical biases introduced during sample acquisition can hinder solid, reproducible results, and a systematic benchmarking is required before entering large-scale data production. Here, we report the existence and extent of gene expression and chromatin accessibility artifacts introduced during sampling and identify experimental and computational solutions for their prevention.

Keywords