Cryo-mtscATAC-seq for single-cell mitochondrial DNA genotyping and clonal tracing in archived human tissues

High-throughput clonal tracing of primary human samples relies on naturally occurring barcodes, such as somatic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations detected via single-cell ATAC-seq (mtscATAC-seq). Fresh-frozen clinical specimens preserve tissue architecture but compromise cell integrity, thereby precluding their use in multiomic approaches such as mitochondrial genotyping at single-cell resolution. Here, we introduce Cryo-mtscATAC-seq, a broadly applicable method for diverse pathophysiological contexts to isolate nuclei with their associated mitochondria (“CryoCells”) from frozen samples for high-throughput clonal analysis. We applied Cryo-mtscATAC-seq to the neurodegenerated human brain, glioblastoma (GBM), pediatric neuroblastoma, and human aorta, and implemented mitobender, a computational tool to reduce ambient mtDNA in single-cell assays. Our approach revealed regional clonal gliogenesis and microglial expansions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), persistence of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC)-like clones in GBM recurrence, mtDNA depth heterogeneity after neuroblastoma chemotherapy, and oligoclonal proliferation of smooth muscle cells in human aorta. In conclusion, Cryo-mtscATAC-seq broadly extends mtDNA genotyping to archival frozen specimens across tissue types, opening new avenues for investigation of cell stateinformed clonality in human health and disease.