Zhongshan Hospital Institute of Clinical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Zhongshan Hospital Institute of Clinical Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2017 Apr;64:143-149. doi: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2016.09.003. Epub 2016 Sep 13.
Single cell heterogeneity has already been highlighted in cancer classification, diagnosis, and treatment. Recent advanced technologies have gained more ability to reveal the heterogeneity on single cell level. In this review, we listed various detection targets applied in single cell study, including tumor tissue cells, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), disseminated tumor cells (DTCs), circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), cell-free DNA (cfDNA), and cancer stem cells (CSCs). We further discussed and compared detection methods using these detection targets in different fields to reveal single cell heterogeneity in cancer. We focused not only on the methods that have already been established and validated, but also on newly developed methods. In morphology and phenotype, the methods mainly included cell imaging and immune-staining. In genomics and proteomics, the main methods were single cell sequencing and single cell western blotting. Collectively, from using these methods, we can have a better understanding of the single cell variation, as well as what kind of variation it is and how the variation works. Our observations imply that study on single cell heterogeneity in cancer is an important step to precision medicine. The development of technologies in detection of single cell heterogeneity will be sure to improve the diagnosis and treatment in cancer.
单细胞异质性已在癌症分类、诊断和治疗中得到强调。最近的先进技术已经能够更深入地揭示单细胞水平的异质性。在这篇综述中，我们列出了各种应用于单细胞研究的检测靶点，包括肿瘤组织细胞、循环肿瘤细胞（CTC）、播散性肿瘤细胞（DTC）、循环肿瘤 DNA（ctDNA）、无细胞 DNA（cfDNA）和癌症干细胞（CSC）。我们进一步讨论并比较了使用这些检测靶点在不同领域的检测方法，以揭示癌症中的单细胞异质性。我们不仅关注已经建立和验证的方法，还关注新开发的方法。在形态和表型方面，方法主要包括细胞成像和免疫染色。在基因组学和蛋白质组学方面，主要方法是单细胞测序和单细胞 Western 印迹。总的来说，通过使用这些方法，我们可以更好地了解单细胞的变异，以及变异的类型和作用方式。我们的观察表明，研究癌症中的单细胞异质性是精准医学的重要步骤。单细胞异质性检测技术的发展必将改善癌症的诊断和治疗。
