Transcriptome-scale super-resolved imaging in tissues by RNA seqFISH+

Abstract

Imaging the transcriptome in situ with high accuracy has been a major challenge in single cell biology, particularly hindered by the limits of optical resolution and the density of transcripts in single cells ^{1– 5} . Here, we demonstrate seqFISH+, that can image the mRNAs for 10,000 genes in single cells with high accuracy and sub-diffraction-limit resolution, in the mouse brain cortex, subventricular zone, and the olfactory bulb, using a standard confocal microscope. The transcriptome level profiling of seqFISH+ allows unbiased identification of cell classes and their spatial organization in tissues. In addition, seqFISH+ reveals subcellular mRNA localization patterns in cells and ligand-receptor pairs across neighboring cells. This technology demonstrates the ability to generate spatial cell atlases and to perform discovery-driven studies of biological processes in situ.