Highly multiplexed targeted DNA sequencing from single nuclei

This single nucleus-targeted sequencing approach incorporates multiplexing and targeted capture for efficient high-throughput detection of genome variants. The protocol will be particularly useful for studying rare cells and complex cell populations. Single-cell DNA sequencing methods are challenged by poor physical coverage, high technical error rates and low throughput. To address these issues, we developed a single-cell DNA sequencing protocol that combines flow-sorting of single nuclei, time-limited multiple-displacement amplification (MDA), low-input library preparation, DNA barcoding, targeted capture and next-generation sequencing (NGS). This approach represents a major improvement over our previous single nucleus sequencing (SNS) Nature Protocols paper in terms of generating higher-coverage data (>90%), thereby enabling the detection of genome-wide variants in single mammalian cells at base-pair resolution. Furthermore, by pooling 48–96 single-cell libraries together for targeted capture, this approach can be used to sequence many single-cell libraries in parallel in a single reaction. This protocol greatly reduces the cost of single-cell DNA sequencing, and it can be completed in 5–6 d by advanced users. This single-cell DNA sequencing protocol has broad applications for studying rare cells and complex populations in diverse fields of biological research and medicine.