Identifying Heterogeneity within Rare Cell Populations by Pairing Single-Cell RNA-Seq with Cell Sorting

Studying biology at a single-cell level can provide crucial insights into how individual cells contribute to human biology and disease. In this application note, it is demonstrated that the resolution of single-cell RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) can be greatly enhanced by adding a cell sorting step prior to RNA-Seq analysis. By pairing the S3e Cell Sorter with the illumina^® Bio-Rad Single-Cell Sequencing Solution, the isolation of an extremely rare peripheral blood mononuclear cell population was achieved and unexpected heterogeneity within this population was characterized.