In November, attendees of the Single Cell and Spatial Genomics Symposium began arriving at Auditorium G, DHMC, around 8:30am to grab some breakfast and caffeine before settling into their seats to learn about Single Cell Genomics and Spatial Genomics technologies.
The symposium kicked off with a welcome by Fred Kolling, Director Single Cell Genomics Core (SCG), who talked briefly about the breadth of single cell and spatial genomics services available at Dartmouth, and gave context for the rest of the speakers who would be describing specific new technologies currently, or very soon to be, available through the SCG, and exploring how these technologies have been applied in research.
The first speaker was Caroline Peterson, Science and Technology Advisor for 10x Genomics, who talked about fixed RNA profiling on the 10x Genomics platform. According to the 10X Genomics website fixed RNA profiling “enables the comprehensive profiling of the transcriptome (human or mouse) from single cells using a probe-based approach. The addition of Feature Barcode technology enables simultaneous profiling of cell surface protein expression for multidimensional insights into complex biology. This assay also enables sample multiplexing to increase your throughput and workflow efficiency.” Caroline detailed the capabilities of this technology, how it worked, and how it could be used, and finished by answering questions from the audience.
Next up was another speaker from 10X Genomics, Jeff Bylund, talking about using 10x Genomics Visium technology for spatial transcriptomics. Jeff introduced the concept of spatial transcriptomics and the ability of Visium technology to show whole transcriptome information within the spatial context of a tissue sample. His presentation was full of fascinating visuals of tissue samples side by side with their transcriptome visualizations and examples of how spatial transcriptomics is being used to gain new insights into how cells interact in context and to identify potentially interesting coding sequences and proteins. He also talked about the Visium CytAssist, a new purchase for SCG, which simplifies the Visium workflow for creating Visium slides, allowing users to begin with a standard glass slide, rather than requiring fresh tissue.
After a short coffee break, Alyssa Nolan from Vizgen gave a presentation on using Vizgen technology to run spatial transcriptomics at nanometer resolution. Like the Visium technology, Vizgen allows researchers to run spatial analysis on samples, however with Vizgen technology users select specific genetic sequences to target (rather than studying the whole transcriptome) and are given a much more detailed, higher resolution, result.
The Symposium wrapped up after lunch with a keynote address from Elise Courtois of Jackson Labs Genomic Medicine who spoke about using single cell and spatial genomics technologies to study endometriosis. Endometriosis is a very common, but under-studied condition in which cells similar to those in the uterine lining grow outside of the uterus. We know very little about why this condition occurs in some women and not in others, so any insight into the mechanisms at work could be extremely valuable. Elise’s work has already helped her identify some potential targets for further study.