The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease
A single change in DNA, RNA, proteins or cellular images can be useful as a biomarker of disease onset or progression. With high-throughput molecular phenotyping of single cells, it is now conceivable that the molecular changes occurring across thousands, or tens of thousands, of individual cells co...
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doaj-ca4e71924f7d4226b27688021bc85ac92020-11-25T01:20:24ZengThe Company of BiologistsDisease Models & Mechanisms1754-84031754-84112019-02-0112210.1242/dmm.037622037622The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for diseaseChris P. Ponting0 MRC Human Genetics Unit, University of Edinburgh, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK A single change in DNA, RNA, proteins or cellular images can be useful as a biomarker of disease onset or progression. With high-throughput molecular phenotyping of single cells, it is now conceivable that the molecular changes occurring across thousands, or tens of thousands, of individual cells could additionally be considered as a disease biomarker. Transition to a disease state would then be reflected by the shifts in cell numbers and locations across a multidimensional space that is defined by the molecular content of cells. Realising this ambition requires a robust formulation of such a multidimensional ‘cell space’. This is one of the goals of the recently launched Human Cell Atlas project. A second goal is to populate this ‘cell space’ with all cell types in the human body. Here, I consider the potential of the Human Cell Atlas project for improving our description and understanding of the cell-type specificity of disease.http://dmm.biologists.org/content/12/2/dmm037622Human Cell AtlasSingle-cell genomicsSingle-cell transcriptomics |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Chris P. Ponting |
spellingShingle |
Chris P. Ponting The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease Disease Models & Mechanisms Human Cell Atlas Single-cell genomics Single-cell transcriptomics |
author_facet |
Chris P. Ponting |
author_sort |
Chris P. Ponting |
title |
The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
title_short |
The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
title_full |
The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
title_fullStr |
The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
title_full_unstemmed |
The Human Cell Atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
title_sort |
human cell atlas: making ‘cell space’ for disease |
publisher |
The Company of Biologists |
series |
Disease Models & Mechanisms |
issn |
1754-8403 1754-8411 |
publishDate |
2019-02-01 |
description |
A single change in DNA, RNA, proteins or cellular images can be useful as a biomarker of disease onset or progression. With high-throughput molecular phenotyping of single cells, it is now conceivable that the molecular changes occurring across thousands, or tens of thousands, of individual cells could additionally be considered as a disease biomarker. Transition to a disease state would then be reflected by the shifts in cell numbers and locations across a multidimensional space that is defined by the molecular content of cells. Realising this ambition requires a robust formulation of such a multidimensional ‘cell space’. This is one of the goals of the recently launched Human Cell Atlas project. A second goal is to populate this ‘cell space’ with all cell types in the human body. Here, I consider the potential of the Human Cell Atlas project for improving our description and understanding of the cell-type specificity of disease. |
topic |
Human Cell Atlas Single-cell genomics Single-cell transcriptomics |
url |
http://dmm.biologists.org/content/12/2/dmm037622 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT chrispponting thehumancellatlasmakingcellspacefordisease AT chrispponting humancellatlasmakingcellspacefordisease |
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1725134421839839232 |