Parallel measurement of transcriptomes and proteomes from same single cells using nanodroplet splitting

Abstract

Single-cell multiomics provides comprehensive insights into gene regulatory networks, cellular diversity, and temporal dynamics. Here, we introduce nanoSPLITS (nanodroplet SPlitting for Linked-multimodal Investigations of Trace Samples), an integrated platform that enables global profiling of the transcriptome and proteome from same single cells using RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry-based proteomics, respectively. Benchmarking of nanoSPLITS demonstrated excellent measurement precision, with deep proteomic and transcriptomic profiling of single-cells. We applied nanoSPLITS to cyclin-dependent kinase 1 inhibited cells and found phospho-signaling events could be quantified alongside global protein and mRNA measurements, providing new insights into cell cycle regulation. We also extended nanoSPLITS to single-cells isolated from human pancreatic islets, introducing an efficient approach for facile identification of unknown cell types, and detecting their protein markers by mapping transcriptomic data to existing large-scale single-cell RNA sequencing reference databases. Herein, we establish nanoSPLITS as a new multiomic technology incorporating global proteomics and anticipate the approach will be critical to furthering our understanding of single-cell systems.