3D amplified single-cell RNA and protein imaging identifies oncogenic transcript subtypes in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

Simultaneous in situ detection of transcript and protein markers at single-cell level is essential for gaining a better understanding of tumor heterogeneity and for predicting and monitoring treatment responses. However, the limited accessibility to advanced 3D imaging techniques has hindered its rapid implementation. Here, we present a 3D single-cell imaging technique, termed 3D digital rolling circle amplification (4DRCA), capable of the multiplexed and amplified simultaneous digital quantification of single-cell RNAs and proteins using standard fluorescence microscopy and off-the-shelf reagents. We generated spatially and spectrally distinguishable DNA amplicons from molecular markers through an integrative protocol combining single-cell RNA and protein assays, and directly enumerated the amplicons by leveraging an open-source algorithm for 3D deconvolution with a custom-built automatic gating algorithm. With 4DRCA, we were able to simultaneously quantify surface protein markers and cytokine transcripts in T lymphocytes. We also show that 4DRCA can distinguish BCR-ABL1 fusion transcript positive B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells with or without CD19 protein expression. The accessibility and extensibility of 4DRCA render it broadly applicable to other cell-based diagnostic workflows, enabling sensitive and accurate single-cell RNA and protein profiling.