Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 26, 2026

Identification of Alternative Splicing and Polyadenylation in RNA-seq Data
Published on: June 24, 2021
scTHREAD: a cell-resolved long-read transcriptome database with linked isoform, poly(A), junction, and allelic
Zhi-Can Fu1,2, Yelian Yan3, Chunchun Wu4
1Beijing Life Science Academy, Key Laboratory of Biosynthesis and Biomanufacturing in Model Plants, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and GMU-GIBH Joint School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China.
Abstract:
Cell-resolved transcript structures are essential for understanding how isoform usage, alternative polyadenylation, and allelic expression vary across cell types. However, existing single-cell long-read datasets remain fragmented across studies, platforms, species, and workflows, hindering comparison and reuse. Here, we present scTHREAD (single-cell Transcriptome Hub for Long-Read Evidence, Annotation, and Discovery; https://scthread.ai4sc.ac.cn/), an open-access database for integrating, exploring, and retrieving single-cell long-read transcriptomic evidence. It comprises 453 runs from 34 human and mouse datasets, covering 923 389 cells profiled by Oxford Nanopore and PacBio. A uniform, platform-aware workflow catalogues 12 471 531 run-transcript observations, of which 30% carry one of 210 341 distinct Ensembl transcript identifiers. Isoform and poly(A)-site usage, splice-junction support, and allele-aware counts remain linked to their source study, run, cell type, and single cell, ensuring full provenance, and differential usage is precomputed where coverage permits. Records are explored through a web interface and retrieved through bulk downloads or a documented API. scTHREAD recapitulates known cell-type-specific isoform patterns and identifies reproducible monocyte-T-cell differences in CCND3, CUTA, and PSMB8 junction usage across three cohorts and two sequencing technologies, establishing it as a traceable resource for investigating RNA processing and transcript regulation at isoform resolution.
Related Concept Videos
RNA-seq
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
Ribosome Profiling
Applications of ribosome profiling
Ribosome profiling has many applications, including in vivo monitoring of translation inside a particular organ or tissue type and quantifying new protein synthesis levels.
The technique helps...

