Early cAMP signaling orchestrates single-cell synchronicity throughout Dictyostelium development

Area of Science:

• Developmental Biology
• Cellular Biology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Synchronicity is prevalent in biological systems, yet quantitative single-cell analyses are scarce.
• Understanding developmental synchronicity is key to comprehending multicellular organism formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling in mediating developmental synchronicity at the single-cell level.
• To quantify transcriptome similarities during development using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).

Main Methods:

• Utilized single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to measure transcriptome similarities in individual Dictyostelium discoideum cells.
• Performed genetic perturbations of cAMP production and response pathways.
• Analyzed developmental synchronicity across different cell types (prespore and prestalk).

Main Results:

• Developmental synchronicity in D. discoideum declines upon starvation but increases with cAMP-pulse signaling.
• scRNA-seq revealed stable synchronicity throughout development, with differences between cell types.
• Absence of cAMP signaling resulted in highly asynchronous development, confirming its essential role.

Conclusions:

• cAMP signaling is essential for establishing and maintaining both transcriptomic and morphological synchronicity during D. discoideum development.
• scRNA-seq provides a powerful tool for quantitative analysis of developmental synchronicity.
• These findings offer insights into coordinated multicellular development.