Single-Cell Proteomics Reveals Proteome Remodeling and Cellular Heterogeneity During NGF-Induced PC12 Neuronal Differentiation

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Single-cell proteomics enables direct measurement of cellular heterogeneity during dynamic biological processes, but its application to fragile and highly adherent neuronal models remains challenging. Here, we developed and applied an optimized single-cell proteomics workflow to characterize proteome remodeling during nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced differentiation of PC12 cells. To enable reliable single-cell analysis, we implemented gentle dissociation, antiaggregation strategies, and thermal inkjet-based cell dispensing, achieving high accuracy in single-cell isolation. Inclusion of n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside (DDM) improved recovery of membrane-associated and low-solubility proteins. Coupled with LC-ion mobility-mass spectrometry, this workflow enabled quantification of 2,000-3,000 proteins per cell across the differentiation time course. Single-cell proteomic analysis revealed progressive and heterogeneous proteome remodeling during differentiation. While undifferentiated cells formed a relatively homogeneous population, later stages (Days 4-6) exhibited increased variability, including multimodal protein abundance distributions and separation into distinct subpopulations. Dimensionality reduction, clustering, and non-negative matrix factorization identified multiple coexisting proteomic states within the same time points, reflecting asynchronous differentiation trajectories. These subpopulations were characterized by coordinated differences in pathways related to intracellular trafficking, protein translation, cytoskeletal organization, and neuronal maturation. Comparison with bulk proteomics demonstrated that proteins associated with differentiated neuronal states, including those involved in neurite formation and structural remodeling, are underrepresented in population-averaged measurements but are enriched within specific single-cell subpopulations. Temporal and cluster-resolved analyses further revealed distinct protein expression trajectories, including early decreases in cell cycle and metabolic pathways and later increases in neuronal structural and regulatory proteins. Together, this study establishes an optimized workflow for single-cell proteomics of neuronal systems and demonstrates that NGF-induced PC12 differentiation proceeds through heterogeneous and divergent proteomic states that are not resolved by bulk analysis.

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