Tradeoff between more cells and higher read depth for single-cell RNA-seq spatial ordering analysis of the liver lobule

Abstract

As newer single-cell protocols generate increasingly more cells at reduced sequencing depths, the value of a higher read depth may be overlooked. Using data from three different single-cell RNA-seq protocols that lend themselves to having either higher read depth (Smart-seq) or many cells (MARS-seq and 10X), we evaluate their ability to recapitulate biological signals in the context of pseudo-spatial reconstruction. Overall, we find gene expression profiles after spatial-reconstruction analysis are highly reproducible between datasets despite being generated by different protocols and using different computational algorithms. While UMI based protocols such as 10X and MARS-seq allow for capturing more cells, Smart-seqs higher sensitivity and read-depth allows for analysis of lower expressed genes and isoforms. Additionally, we evaluate trade-offs for each protocol by performing subsampling analyses, and find that optimizing the balance between sequencing depth and number of cells within a protocol is important for efficient use of resources. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of selecting a protocol based on the biological questions and features of interest.