The USF College of Public Health’s Genomics Program and the Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research hosted, along with biotech companies 10x Genomics, Illumina and Miltenyi Biotec, a symposium on new technologies and applications pertaining to single-cell genomics.

“The USF Genomics Program sequencing and computational cores provide trainings and services for single-cell analysis,” Dr. John Adams, director of the USF Genomics Program and co-director of the Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases Research, said. “The goal of the program is to provide advanced support in cutting-edge genomic technologies and applications for USF researchers. The RNAseq [a technique that measures gene expression] workshops are offered three times a year and have trained 236 researchers in 74 groups from nine USF colleges. About 35 percent of participants are faculty and staff, 65 percent are students and post-docs.”

As the name implies, single-cell genomics examines the inner workings and individuality of a single cell, rather than a group of cells.  Single-cell analysis helps identify new and/or rare cell types, increasing scientists’ understanding of the complexity of cell samples.

The one-day symposium, held in August at USF’s new Research Park building, had 160 attendees. About 60 percent of the audience was made up of USF researchers (faculty and students). Forty percent came from other institutions, such as Moffitt Cancer Center, the University of Florida, Florida State University, Florida A&M University, AdventHealth, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and others. 

Presentations covered a wide range of topics, including using single-cell analysis to discover more about metabolism, diabetes and cancer. Leading researchers came from USF, the University of Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center, Florida State University and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and shared their latest discoveries and uses of various single-cell approaches in their research.

Dr. Ji Li, a professor in the department of surgery within USF’s Health Heart Institute at the Morsani College of Medicine, presented “Signal Transduction of Activated Protein C in Aging.” The presentation highlighted how single cells can regulate age-related conditions such as heart disease.

“This symposium brought insights and updates on a wide range of topics, including new technologies and applications introducing the power of single-cell multiomics analysis and spatial technology and single-cell sample preparation and analysis,” explained Dr. Min Zhang, the USF Genomics Program sequencing core director and one of the organizers of the event. “Single-cell technology allows us to analyze genetic information on a cell-by-cell basis through the use of microscopic fluid lines to capture single cells and prepare barcoded, next-generation sequencing (NGS) cDNA libraries. Entirely new layers of genetic data can be obtained.”

According to Zhang, single-cell technology is a boon not only for understanding biology but also for improving human health.

“This symposium showed us wonderful examples of how we can bring the science to the bench,” she said. “It gave us some considerations to think about when choosing which single-cell products to use for our research projects. By taking full advantage of the power of single-cell multiomics, we can address important modern concerns such as profiling the adaptive immune system to do things like track flu or COVID-19-related immune cells and understand their cellular state.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health