Single Cell CRISPR Screening for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Research

Linking Genotypes with Multiple Phenotypes in Single-cell CRISPR Screens During Virus Infection

Single-cell CRISPR screening is a powerful technique to monitor gene expression changes in response to perturbation at a single-cell level. It has been developed and applied to antiviral research in humans to potentially search for perturbed genomic elements that lead to the differential expression of genes involved in virus entry and transmission. As a flexible partner in single cell multi-omics services, Creative Biolabs aspires to provide the most comprehensive single-cell CRISPR screening services, from cloning and virus production to generating and analyzing sequencing data. It is our commitment to advancing your single-cell CRISPR screening program with our single cell solutions and reducing the overall development timeline.

What Is Single Cell CRISPR Screening?

Single-cell CRISPR screening is a delicate method that couples single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) with pooled genetic screens based on CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering system. CRISPR/Cas9 system is becoming a promising approach for genetic manipulation in virology research. It can be used to target both the virus genome and host factors to clear viral reservoirs and prohibit virus infection or replication based on the characteristics of virus-host interactions. Pooled CRISPR/Cas9 screening is a widely used method to study the functions of thousands of genes or non-coding elements in large-scale. scRNA-seq has been applied to examine the cellular context of the adaptive immune response, to analyze new immune cell subpopulations, to explore potential cell surface markers and antigen specificity, to study dynamic interactions between lymphocytes and target cells, etc. Therefore, this combination is a powerful method to monitor gene expression heterogeneity in response to perturbation at a single-cell level during viral infection.

Single Cell CRISPR Screening Services

To explore regulatory mechanisms of cell responses and identify host factors during the responses to viral infection, Single Cell has developed an unparalleled, multiplexed single-cell CRISPR screening platform to address different demands from global customers.

• Perturb-seq

  Perturbations on the cell cycle (G2/M phase arrest) for SARS-CoV-2 infected cells will promote favorable conditions for viral replication. Perturb-seq integrates scRNA-seq and CRISPR-based perturbations to detect complex transcriptional profiles at scale and understand gene function and regulation of transcription factors. Perturb-seq can accurately identify individual gene targets, gene signatures, and cell states affected by individual perturbations and their genetic interactions.

• CRISPR droplet sequencing (CROP-seq)

  CROP-seq enables pooled CRISPR screens with single-cell transcriptome resolution, facilitating high-throughput functional dissection of complex regulatory mechanisms and heterogeneous cell populations during SARS-CoV-2 infection. It profiles genes transcriptome and identifies the pathway signature genes involved in viral infection.

• MOSAIC-seq

  Transcriptional enhancers drive cell-type-specific gene expression patterns and thus play key roles in viral infection. Mosaic-seq can systematically perturb enhancers and measure their endogenous activities at single-cell resolution by performing pooled CRISPRi-based epigenetic suppression of enhancers with a single-cell transcriptomic readout.

Workflow of Single-Cell CRISPR Screening

Fig.2 Workflow of single-cell CRISPR screening at Single Cell.

Single-cell CRISPR screening elucidates the key anti-virus adaptive immune responses and explores potential immunomodulatory therapeutic targets to help combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our single-cell CRISPR screening services can offer you the highest quality, accuracy, precision within agreed timelines. If you have additional requirements or questions, please feel free to contact us.