Joint profiling of DNA and proteins in single cells to dissect genotype-phenotype associations in leukemia

Studies of acute myeloid leukemia rely on DNA sequencing and immunophenotyping by flow cytometry as primary tools for disease characterization. However, leukemia tumor heterogeneity complicates integration of DNA variants and immunophenotypes from separate measurements. Here we introduce DAb-seq, a technology for simultaneous capture of DNA genotype and cell surface phenotype from single cells at high throughput, enabling direct profiling of proteogenomic states in tens of thousands of cells. To demonstrate the approach, we analyze the disease of three patients with leukemia over multiple treatment timepoints and disease recurrences. We observe complex genotype-phenotype dynamics that illustrate the subtlety of the disease process and the degree of incongruity between blast cell genotype and phenotype in different clinical scenarios. Our results highlight the importance of combined single-cell DNA and protein measurements to fully characterize the heterogeneity of leukemia. It is currently difficult to map DNA variants and surface phenotypes in the same cells, preventing direct linkage of phenotype and genotype. Here the authors report DAb-seq for simultaneous capture of DNA genotype and cell surface phenotype from single cells at high throughput.

Automated summary

The study introduced DAb-seq technology for simultaneous capturing of DNA genotype and cell surface phenotype from single cells. The analysis of leukemia disease dynamics in three patients revealed the complexity and incongruity between blast cell genotype and phenotype. This highlights the importance of combined single-cell DNA and protein measurements in fully characterizing leukemia heterogeneity.