Single Cell Analysis Program-Transcriptomics (SCAP-T) (Penn site)

The goal of this study is to characterize and understand the variability in the expressed transcriptome of human excitable cells. There are two predominant types of excitable cell in the human body, neurons and muscle cells, including cardiac cells. Many human CNS diseases result from modulation of the electrical responsiveness of neurons while cardiac arrhythmias account for most of heart associated deaths. However, at the level of individual cells there is considerable heterogeneity in function, response, and dysfunction. We hypothesize that there is a many-to-one relationship between transcriptome states and a cell''s phenotype. In this relationship the functional molecular ratios of the RNA are determined by the cell systems'' stoichiometric constraints, which underdetermine the transcriptome state. Because a broad set of multi-genic combinations support a particular phenotype, changes in the transcriptome state do not necessarily lead to changes in... (for more see dbGaP study page.)