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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2024.04.24.590899

EpiCHAOS: a metric to quantify epigenomic heterogeneity in single-cell data

Kelly, K.·Scherer, M.·Braun, M. M.·Lutsik, P.·Plass, C.
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Abstract

Epigenetic heterogeneity is a fundamental property of biological systems, and is recognized as a potential driver of tumor plasticity and therapy resistance. Single-cell epigenomics technologies have been widely employed to study epigenetic variation between - but not within - cellular clusters. We introduce epiCHAOS: a quantitative metric of cell-to-cell heterogeneity, applicable to any single-cell epigenomics data type. After validation in synthetic datasets, we applied epiCHAOS to investigate global and region-specific patterns of epigenetic heterogeneity across diverse biological systems. EpiCHAOS provides an excellent approximation of stemness and plasticity in development and malignancy, making it a valuable addition to single-cell cancer epigenomics analyses.

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Kelly, K., Scherer, M., Braun, M. M., Lutsik, P., Plass, C.. 2024-04-28. EpiCHAOS: a metric to quantify epigenomic heterogeneity in single-cell data. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.04.24.590899

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