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Review
. 2018 Oct;28(10):764-775.
doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2018.05.004. Epub 2018 Jun 8.

Analyzing Circulating Tumor Cells One at a Time

Veronica Ortiz  1 , Min Yu  2
Affiliations
Review

Analyzing Circulating Tumor Cells One at a Time

Veronica Ortiz et al. Trends Cell Biol. 2018 Oct.

Abstract

Whole-genome sequencing has made a significant impact on cancer research, but traditional bulk methods fail to detect information from rare cells. Recently developed single-cell sequencing methods have provided new insights and unprecedented details about cancer progression and diversity. These advancements also enable the investigation of rare cells, such as circulating tumor cells (CTCs) derived from cancer patients. In this review, we outline various single-cell sequencing techniques that can elucidate the molecular properties of CTCs. In addition, we explain the drawbacks that need to be overcome for each method.

Keywords: Circulating tumor cells; single-cell sequencing; tumor heterogeneity.

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Figures

Figure 1, Key Figure
Figure 1, Key Figure. Illustration of current genome-wide technologies and potential applications for single CTCs
Blood samples from cancer patients are processed and CTCs are isolated. DNA or RNA, or both, are isolated and processed by one or more of the following single-cell techniques: RNA-Seq, DNA-Seq, WGBS (whole genome bisulfite sequencing), DNase-Seq (DNase I hypersensitive Sequencing), ATAC-Seq (Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin Sequencing), Hi-C Seq, ChIP-Seq (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Sequencing). RNA-Seq depicts exomes and splicing probabilities. DNase-Seq and ATAC-Seq depicts nucleosomes on DNA. Hi-C Seq depicts an example of how DNA can be organized structurally within the nucleus. ChIP-Seq depicts a protein binding to DNA, which is captured by a targeting antibody. These techniques can manifest heterogeneous population of cells, personalize prognosis and treatment, enable therapy monitoring, manifest drug resistance mechanisms and lead to the discovery of novel regulatory mechanisms that may advance our understanding of cancer and make an impact on cancer treatments.
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