Multiplexing cortical brain organoids for the longitudinal dissection of developmental traits at single cell resolution

Dissecting human neurobiology at high resolution and with mechanistic precision requires a major leap in scalability, given the need for experimental designs to multiple individuals and, prospectively, population cohorts. To lay the foundation for this, we have implemented and benchmarked complementary strategies to multiplex brain organoids by pooling cells from different pluripotent stem cell lines (PSC) either during organoid generation (mosaic models) or before single cell-RNAseq library preparation (downstream multiplexing). We have also developed a new computational method, SCanSNP, and a consensus call to deconvolve cell identities, overcoming current criticalities in doublets prediction and low quality cells identification. We validated both multiplexing methods for charting neurodevelopmental trajectories at high resolution, thus linking specificity to genetic variation. Finally, we modelled their scalability across different multiplexing combinations and showed that mosaic organoids represent an enabling method for high-throughput settings. Together, this multiplexing suite of experimental and computational methods provides a highly scalable resource for disease modelling.

• Type: Whole Genome Sequencing
• Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)