T cell fate and clonality inference from single cell transcriptomes

The enormous sequence diversity within T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires allows specific TCR sequences to be used as lineage markers for T cells that derive from a common progenitor. We have developed a computational method, called TraCeR, to reconstruct full-length, paired TCR sequences from T lymphocyte single-cell RNA-seq by combining existing assembly and alignment programs with “combinatorial recombinome” sequences comprising all possible TCR combinations. We validate this method to quantify its accuracy and sensitivity. Inferred TCR sequences reveal clonal relationships between T cells whilst the cells’ complete transcriptional landscapes can be quantified from the remaining RNA-seq data. This provides a powerful tool to link T cell specificity with functional response and we demonstrate this by determining the distribution of members of expanded T cell clonotypes in a mouse Salmonella infection model. Members of the same clonotype span early activated CD4+ T cells, as well as mature effector and memory cells.