Reusable Single Cell for Iterative Epigenomic Analyses

Current single-cell epigenome analyses are designed for single use. The cell is discarded after a single use, preventing analysis of multiple epigenetic marks in a single cell and requiring data from other cells to distinguish signal from experimental background noise in a single cell. This paper describes a method to reuse the same single cell for iterative epigenomic analyses. In this experimental method, cellular proteins are first anchored to a polyacrylamide polymer instead of crosslinking them to protein and DNA, alleviating structural bias. This critical step allows repeated experiments with the same single cell. Next, a random primer with a scaffold sequence for proximity ligation is annealed to the genomic DNA, and the genomic sequence is added to the primer by extension using a DNA polymerase. Subsequently, an antibody against an epigenetic marker and control IgG, each labeled with different DNA probes, are bound to the respective targets in the same single cell. Proximity ligation is induced between the random primer and the antibody by adding a connector DNA with complementary sequences to the scaffold sequence of the random primer and the antibody-DNA probe. This approach integrates antibody information and nearby genome sequences in a single DNA product of proximity ligation. By enabling repeated experiments with the same single cell, this method allows an increase in data density from a rare cell and statistical analysis using only IgG and antibody data from the same cell. The reusable single cells prepared by this method can be stored for at least a few months and reused later to broaden epigenetic characterization and increase data density. This method provides flexibility to researchers and their projects.