Open AccessThe added value of single-cell gene expression profiling
Author(s) -
Anders Ståhlberg,
Vendula Rusnáková,
Mikael Kubista
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
briefings in functional genomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.22
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 2041-2647
pISSN - 2041-2649
DOI - 10.1093/bfgp/elt001
Subject(s) - biology , gene expression profiling , normalization (sociology) , cell , population , computational biology , single cell analysis , gene expression , profiling (computer programming) , cell type , gene , database normalization , genetics , computer science , artificial intelligence , pattern recognition (psychology) , demography , sociology , anthropology , operating system
Cells are the basic unit of life and they have remarkable abilities to respond individually as well as in concert to internal and external stimuli in a specific manner. Studying complex tissues and whole organs requires understanding of cell heterogeneity and responses to stimuli at the single-cell level. In this review, we discuss the potential of single-cell gene expression profiling, focusing on data analysis and biological interpretation. We exemplify several aspects of the added value of single-cell analysis by comparing the same experimental data at both single-cell and cell population level. Data normalization and handling of missing data are two important steps in data analysis that are performed differently at single-cell level compared with cell population level. Furthermore, we discuss how single-cell gene expression data can be viewed and how subpopulations of cells can be identified and characterized.