The rise of single-cell proteomics

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics comprehensively defines proteome expression patterns in thousands of cells majorly contributing to our current understanding of many biological processes. More recently, single-cell transcriptome and genome studies, however, have demonstrated overwhelming heterogeneity of tissues and cellular subpopulations. These studies have indicated different cellular functionality and identity, which are mainly driven by proteins and their posttranscriptional modifications. The rapidly emerging field of single-cell proteomics aims at complementing transcriptome and genome data by generating comparative protein expression profiles from individual cells. Recent developments demonstrated tremendous improvements in sample preparation workflows and MS instrumentation, quantifying over 1000 proteins from a single cell. Efficient and reproducible sample processing in conjunction with sensitive MS acquisition strategies will allow to further increase the proteome coverage of tissues with single-cell resolution. The required throughput and data reliability of such studies are still subject to further developments. Therefore, we herein discuss recent progress on specialized workflows and instrumentation next to advancements outside the field, which we expect to contribute to the development of comprehensive single-cell proteomics.

Automated summary

Single-cell proteomics is a rapidly developing field that aims to complement transcriptome and genome data by studying protein expression profiles from individual cells. Recent developments have shown significant improvements in sample preparation and mass spectrometry instrumentation.