May 31, 2022
Why Use Single Cell Multi-Omics?
The composition and cellular status of immune cells in a tumor are extremely useful data points for developing predictors for cancer outcomes. Cancerous tumors are highly heterogenous mixtures of cell types, and traditional approaches to examining the cellular population of a tumor rely on existing markers or are only able to look at one cell type at a type.
The advantage of single cell multi-omics (sc-multi-omics) in immuno-oncology is two-fold: first, single cell approaches give much higher resolution. Being able to look at subpopulations of cells rather than combined signatures from the whole tumor can provide much more insight. Second, multi-omics integrates multiple aspects of the tumor to provide a more comprehensive view of the tumor microenvironment.
Applications in Immuno-oncology
Multi-omics refers to the concept of using multiple approaches simultaneously, including genomic sequencing, transcriptomics, methylation states, chromatin accessibility and more, to paint the clearest possible picture of what is happening inside the tumor. Integrating these distinct data types is the main challenge of multi-omics analyses, but this approach has already proven useful and successful in immuno-oncology.
Studies leveraging scRNA-seq data combined with chromatin accessibility data have been able to identify dysfunctional immune pathways implicated in leukemia. Even scRNA-seq on its own has been immensely powerful for improving our ability to stratify patients and cancer types based on immune cell infiltration, T cell exhaustion and more. Understanding the immune landscape of tumors from as many angles as possible will be critical to the continued development of targeted immunotherapies.
Outsourcing Bioinformatics Analysis
This study illustrates the power of single cell analyses, but integrating different data types for these multi-omic approaches is a challenging computational and bioinformatic task. Outsourcing your bioinformatic analysis to experts like our team at Bridge Informatics helps eliminate common challenges with these projects. If you’re interested, book a free discovery call with us today to discuss your project needs.
Jane Cook, Journalist & Content Writer, Bridge Informatics
Jane is a Content Writer at Bridge Informatics, a professional services firm that helps biotech customers implement advanced techniques in management and analysis of genomic data. Bridge Informatics focuses on data mining, machine learning, and various bioinformatic techniques to discover biomarkers and companion diagnostics. If you’re interested in reaching out, please email daniel.dacey@old.bridgeinformatics.com or dan.ryder@old.bridgeinformatics.com.
Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-30549-4
