It Is Better to Light a Candle Than to Curse the Darkness: Single-Cell Transcriptomics Sheds New Light on Pancreas Biology and Disease

Authors

Amelia T Cephas
William L Hwang
Anirban Maitra
Oren Parnas
Kathleen E DelGiorno

Publication Date

6-1-2023

Journal

Gut

Abstract

Recent advances in single-cell RNA sequencing and bioinformatics have drastically increased our ability to interrogate the cellular composition of traditionally difficult to study organs, such as the pancreas. With the advent of these technologies and approaches, the field has grown, in just a few years, from profiling pancreas disease states to identifying molecular mechanisms of therapy resistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, a particularly deadly cancer. Single-cell transcriptomics and related spatial approaches have identified previously undescribed epithelial and stromal cell types and states, how these populations change with disease progression, and potential mechanisms of action which will serve as the basis for designing new therapeutic strategies. Here, we review the recent literature on how single-cell transcriptomic approaches have changed our understanding of pancreas biology and disease progression.

Keywords

Humans, Transcriptome, Darkness, Pancreas, Pancreatic Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal, Disease Progression, Biology

DOI

10.1136/gutjnl-2022-329313

PMID

36997301

PMCID

PMC10988578

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

4-3-2024

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Published Open-Access

yes