Single-cell sequencing data using DOP-PCR, MDA and MALBAC whole genome amplification methods.

Single-cell sequencing (SCS) provides many biomedical advances but currently relies on whole-genome amplification (WGA). Three methods are commonly used for WGA: multiple displacement amplification (MDA), degenerate oligonucleotide-primed PCR (DOP-PCR) and multiple annealing and looping-based amplification cycles (MALBAC). Here we systematically compare the advantages and disadvantages and performance of each method. To systematically evaluate the SCS performance of commonly used WGA methods, we performed single cell WGA using six commercial kits based on DOP-PCR and MDA and then performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) of the successfully amplified DNA.
A total of 36 single cells were collected in our study, 19 from a lymphoblastoid cell-line (YH cell-line), the rest from a widely-known gastric cancer cell-line, BGC823. Corresponding pooled DNA was extracted as a non-amplified control. BGC823 cell-line was provided by Professor Youyong Lv at Beijing Cancer Hospital. All samples and experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Review Board of BGI-Shenzhen.