An optimized skin tissue dissociation protocol for single-cell RNA sequencing analysis

Researchers from the University of Zurich present an optimized dissociation protocol for preparing high-quality skin cell suspensions for in-depth single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of fresh and cultured human skin. This protocol enabled the isolation of a consistently high number of highly viable skin cells from small freshly dissociated punch skin biopsies, which the researchers use for scRNA-seq studies. They recapitulated not only the main cell populations of existing single-cell skin atlases, but also identified rare cell populations, such as mast cells. Furthermore, they effectively isolated highly viable single cells from ex vivo cultured skin biopsy fragments and generated a global single-cell map of the explanted human skin. The quality metrics of the generated scRNA-seq datasets were comparable between freshly dissociated and cultured skin. Overall, by enabling efficient cell isolation and comprehensive cell mapping, this skin dissociation-scRNA-seq workflow can greatly facilitate scRNA-seq discoveries across diverse human skin pathologies and ex vivo skin explant experimentations.

Optimized skin dissociation protocol

(A) Graphic representation of the principal steps of our optimized skin dissociation protocol. (B) Number and viability of isolated skin cells from freshly processed skin biopsies. Shown is median.