Progress in the Application of Single-cell Sequencing Technology in Cartilage Tissue Diseases

Background: In the study of the pathogenesis of cartilage tissue (articular cartilage, meniscus, intervertebral disc, etc.) diseases, the most common research object is to explore some possible pathogenesis and pathogenesis in the direction of the whole pathological changes of these overall tissues. Therefore, there are many limitations and inaccuracies in the previous research methods. Single-cell sequencing refers to the technology of sequencing the genome and transcriptome epigenome at the single cell level, which can obtain the heterogeneity data between different cells from the sample tissue and sequence the precious very trace sample, so as to reflect the law and essence of life at a deeper level. Objective: Single cell sequencing technology can be used to explore the pathogenesis of cartilage tissue diseases, understand the relationship between a cell type and diseases and provide new ideas for treatment and diagnosis. Methods: The first author used the Chinese search terms "single-cell sequencing, cartilage, intervertebral disc, meniscus" and the English search terms "single-cell sequencing; cartilage; intervertebral disc; meniscus, osteoarthritis", relevant articles included between January 2010 and April 2021 were searched in Embase, PubMed, Wanfang database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The retrieved relevant literatures were screened and collated, and the included relevant literatures were reviewed in detail. Results & Conclusion: From the emergence of single-cell sequencing technology for the first time more than ten years ago, single-cell sequencing technology has been rapidly developed, and occupies an important position in the whole history of life science and technology development. Single-cell sequencing has been widely used in the study of tumor heterogeneity, immune microenvironment, neuroscience, embryonic development, and cell differentiation. However, the application in cartilage tissue diseases, is still in the primary stage of exploratory research. Single-cell sequencing technology can better understand the pathogenesis of cartilage tissue diseases at the cellular level, providing the possibility for pathological staging and targeted therapy at the molecular level of the disease. This is helpful for early diagnosis and early intervention of cartilage tissue diseases, reducing the pain caused by advanced cartilage tissue diseases and the economic burden of the whole society, so it also has a broad prospect in cartilage tissue diseases.