With this award, the Chemistry of Life Processes program is supporting the research of Professor Zhong of the University of Southern California. Professor Zhong will investigate the reprogramming mechanism of mammalian cells with single-cell transcriptome analysis. Although traditional cell lysate approaches provide significant quantities of RNA for analysis, the temporal and quantitative gene expression information is erased and averaged among all cells in the lysate. The "lost key" of gene regulatory relationships is to be found in single-cell transcriptomic analysis as opposed to the averaged cell lysate-techniques currently used in many traditional studies. The Zhong group will induce the expression of reprogramming factors (RFs) in cells to determine which genes are regulated by the induced-RFs at the single-cell level. This study will provide molecular information to dissect the genetic mechanism of reprogramming, deepen our understanding of cell fate decision, and demonstrate a novel chemical approach, single-cell transcriptome analysis, for chemical/cell biology.
The microfluidics/cell sorting/qPCR approach to single cell transcriptome analysis is expected to have broad scientific applications to problems at the chemistry/biology interface, far beyond the scope of this grant. As important, the project will contribute to education and training at the high school, undergraduate and graduate levels and involve efforts to broaden participation of under-represented minorities in modern chemical biology research. Plans for community outreach and "virtual lab" development also in place, and expected to widen the reach of this multi-disciplinary approach to research at the intersection of at the chemistry, nanoscale engineering and cell biology.
