{
  "id": 3529269,
  "title": "In the same cell, the proteome defines cellular state and the transcriptome marks transitions",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/in-the-same-cell-the-proteome-defines-cellular-state-and-the",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-26T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.25.746940v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new technology has been developed that can measure thousands of proteins and transcripts within a single cell simultaneously. In HeLa cells, the abundances of RNA and protein match up well within each cell, with an r value of 0.45. However, the two do not correlate across the population of cells, with an r value of 0.038. During the process of pluripotency transitions, only one-third of matched transcripts and proteins change in sync, yet the transcription factors that define each state remain tightly regulated. The amount of variance in transcripts is several-fold greater than the variance in proteins, which reflects the phenomenon of transcriptional bursting and mRNA sampling noise. As a result, the proteome serves as the stable, low-noise definition of cell state, while the transcriptome marks cellular transitions. Consequently, the proteome can define cell state using far fewer cells.",
  "summary": "Bulk transcriptome and proteome correlate only modestly, but this has not been investigated in the same cell or across cell-state changes. Here we introduce a scalable technology that quantifies thousands of proteins and transcripts in the same cell, separating RNA from protein by tip-based C18 capture and pairing full-length RNA sequencing with latest-generation mass spectrometry. In HeLa cells,…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}