Discovering DISCO: application value of a large-scale repository for diverse single-cell omics data

JOURNAL/atin/04.03/02274269-202509000-00003/figure1/v/2025-05-23T114004Z/r/image-tiff Since its emergence in 2009, single-cell RNA sequencing has played a significant role in the fields of biology and medicine, particularly in neuroscience research. However, the rapid growth in data volume has made efficient data analysis a major challenge. To address this issue, this study primarily introduces the Database of Integrated Single-cell Omics (DISCO), which was developed to simplify and automate the single-cell data analysis workflow, providing high-quality resources and a tool for neuroscience research. DISCO is a highly integrated single-cell omics database consolidating data from 19,747 samples, encompassing more than 100 million cells across 461 cell types. By providing tissue, disease, and cell type atlases, DISCO allows researchers to retrieve data through multiple filtering criteria and investigate cell heterogeneity under distinct tissue and disease conditions using its interactive visualization and diversified analytical tools. With its user-friendly interface and robust analytical capabilities, DISCO significantly facilitates a deeper understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying health and disease. DISCO provides researchers with a comprehensive single-cell dataset that meets a variety of analytical needs. It not only offers standard single-cell omics analysis, but also allows users to customize their analyses. The database includes modules for data storage, cell type, atlases, and differential expression analysis, enabling users to investigate cellular heterogeneity and disease mechanisms in depth. The application of DISCO reflects the latest advancements in single-cell RNA sequencing in the field of neuroscience. This technology allows researchers to investigate gene expression at the single-cell level, which is essential for understanding the complexity of the brain and the interactions between neurons and other cell types.