Single-cell transcriptomes reveal cell-type-specific and sample-specific gene function in human cancer
Accurate annotation of gene function in individual samples and even in each cell type is essential for understanding the pathogenesis of cancers. Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides unprecedented resolution to decipher gene function. In order to explore how scRNA-seq contributes to the u...
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Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Elsevier
2025-02-01
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Series: | Heliyon |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844025005985 |
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Summary: | Accurate annotation of gene function in individual samples and even in each cell type is essential for understanding the pathogenesis of cancers. Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) provides unprecedented resolution to decipher gene function. In order to explore how scRNA-seq contributes to the understanding of gene function in cancers, we constructed an assessment framework based on co-expression network and neighbor-voting method using 116,814 cells. Compared with bulk transcriptome, scRNA-seq recalled more experimentally verified gene functions. Surprisingly, scRNA-seq revealed cell-type-specific functions, especially in immune cells, whose expression profile recalled immune-related functions that were not discovered in cancer cells. Furthermore, scRNA-seq discovered sample-specific functions, highlighting that it provided sample-specific information. We also explored factors affecting the performance of gene function prediction. We found that 500 or more cells should be considered in the prediction with scRNA-seq, and that scRNA-seq datasets generated from 10x Genomics platform had a better performance than those from Smart-seq2. Collectively, we compared the prediction performance of bulk data and scRNA-seq data from multiple perspectives, revealing the irreplaceable role of single-cell sequencing in decoding the biological progresses in which the gene involved. |
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ISSN: | 2405-8440 |