Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK.
Nat Med. 2022 Dec;28(12):2486-2496. doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-02104-7. Epub 2022 Dec 8.
Single-cell atlases promise to provide a 'missing link' between genes, diseases and therapies. By identifying the specific cell types, states, programs and contexts where disease-implicated genes act, we will understand the mechanisms of disease at the cellular and tissue levels and can use this understanding to develop powerful disease diagnostics; identify promising new drug targets; predict their efficacy, toxicity and resistance mechanisms; and empower new kinds of therapies, from cancer therapies to regenerative medicine. Here, we lay out a vision for the potential of cell atlases to impact the future of medicine, and describe how advances over the past decade have begun to realize this potential in common complex diseases, infectious diseases (including COVID-19), rare diseases and cancer.
单细胞图谱有望在基因、疾病和疗法之间提供“缺失的一环”。通过鉴定出疾病相关基因作用的特定细胞类型、状态、程序和背景，我们将在细胞和组织水平上理解疾病的机制，并利用这种理解来开发强大的疾病诊断方法；鉴定有前途的新药物靶点；预测其疗效、毒性和耐药机制；并为新的治疗方法提供支持，从癌症治疗到再生医学。在这里，我们阐述了细胞图谱在未来医学中的潜在影响，并描述了过去十年的进展如何开始在常见的复杂疾病、传染病（包括 COVID-19）、罕见病和癌症中实现这一潜力。
