Simultaneous CRISPR screening and spatial transcriptomics reveal intracellular, intercellular, and functional transcriptional circuits.

Cell
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Keywords
Abstract

Pooled optical screens have enabled the study of cellular interactions, morphology, or dynamics at massive scale, but they have not yet leveraged the power of highly plexed single-cell resolved transcriptomic readouts to inform molecular pathways. Here, we present a combination of imaging spatial transcriptomics with parallel optical detection of in situ amplified guide RNAs (Perturb-FISH). Perturb-FISH recovers intracellular effects that are consistent with single-cell RNA-sequencing-based readouts of perturbation effects (Perturb-seq) in a screen of lipopolysaccharide response in cultured monocytes, and it uncovers intercellular and density-dependent regulation of the innate immune response. Similarly, in three-dimensional xenograft models, Perturb-FISH identifies tumor-immune interactions altered by genetic knockout. When paired with a functional readout in a separate screen of autism spectrum disorder risk genes in human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hIPSC) astrocytes, Perturb-FISH shows common calcium activity phenotypes and their associated genetic interactions and dysregulated molecular pathways. Perturb-FISH is thus a general method for studying the genetic and molecular associations of spatial and functional biology at single-cell resolution.

Year of Publication
2025
Journal
Cell
Date Published
03/2025
ISSN
1097-4172
DOI
10.1016/j.cell.2025.02.012
PubMed ID
40081369
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