1
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Junaid M, Lee EJ, Lim SB. Single-cell and spatial omics: exploring hypothalamic heterogeneity. Neural Regen Res 2025; 20:1525-1540. [PMID: 38993130 DOI: 10.4103/nrr.nrr-d-24-00231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Elucidating the complex dynamic cellular organization in the hypothalamus is critical for understanding its role in coordinating fundamental body functions. Over the past decade, single-cell and spatial omics technologies have significantly evolved, overcoming initial technical challenges in capturing and analyzing individual cells. These high-throughput omics technologies now offer a remarkable opportunity to comprehend the complex spatiotemporal patterns of transcriptional diversity and cell-type characteristics across the entire hypothalamus. Current single-cell and single-nucleus RNA sequencing methods comprehensively quantify gene expression by exploring distinct phenotypes across various subregions of the hypothalamus. However, single-cell/single-nucleus RNA sequencing requires isolating the cell/nuclei from the tissue, potentially resulting in the loss of spatial information concerning neuronal networks. Spatial transcriptomics methods, by bypassing the cell dissociation, can elucidate the intricate spatial organization of neural networks through their imaging and sequencing technologies. In this review, we highlight the applicative value of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics in exploring the complex molecular-genetic diversity of hypothalamic cell types, driven by recent high-throughput achievements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Junaid
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Eun Jeong Lee
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea
- Department of Brain Science, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Su Bin Lim
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Graduate School of Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea
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2
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Das Adhikari S, Yang J, Wang J, Cui Y. Recent advances in spatially variable gene detection in spatial transcriptomics. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:883-891. [PMID: 38370977 PMCID: PMC10869304 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
With the emergence of advanced spatial transcriptomic technologies, there has been a surge in research papers dedicated to analyzing spatial transcriptomics data, resulting in significant contributions to our understanding of biology. The initial stage of downstream analysis of spatial transcriptomic data has centered on identifying spatially variable genes (SVGs) or genes expressed with specific spatial patterns across the tissue. SVG detection is an important task since many downstream analyses depend on these selected SVGs. Over the past few years, a plethora of new methods have been proposed for the detection of SVGs, accompanied by numerous innovative concepts and discussions. This article provides a selective review of methods and their practical implementations, offering valuable insights into the current literature in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sikta Das Adhikari
- Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- Department of Statistics and Probability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Jiaxin Yang
- Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Jianrong Wang
- Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
| | - Yuehua Cui
- Department of Statistics and Probability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
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3
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Zhang C, Wang L, Shi Q. Computational modeling for deciphering tissue microenvironment heterogeneity from spatially resolved transcriptomics. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2024; 23:2109-2115. [PMID: 38800634 PMCID: PMC11126885 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2024.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial transcriptomics techniques, while measuring gene expression, retain spatial location information, aiding in situ studies of organismal tissue architecture and the progression of pathological processes. These techniques generate vast amounts of omics data, necessitating the development of computational methods to reveal the underlying tissue microenvironment heterogeneity. The main directions in spatial transcriptomics data analysis are spatial domain detection and spatial deconvolution, which can identify spatial functional regions and parse the distribution of cell types in spatial transcriptomics data by integrating single-cell transcriptomics data. In these two research directions, many computational methods have been successively proposed. This article will categorize them into three types: machine learning-based methods, probabilistic models-based methods, and deep learning-based methods. It will list and discuss the representative algorithms of each type along with their advantages and disadvantages and describe the datasets and evaluation metrics used to assess these computational methods, facilitating researchers in selecting suitable computational methods according to their research needs. Finally, combining the latest technological developments and the advantages and disadvantages of current algorithms, this article will look forward to the future directions of computational method development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuanchao Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Health Science of Zhejiang Province, School of Life Science, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, Hangzhou 310024; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
| | - Lequn Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Qianqian Shi
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Agricultural Bioinformatics, College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Hubei Engineering Technology Research Center of Agricultural Big Data, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, China
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4
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Chang Y, Liu J, Jiang Y, Ma A, Yeo YY, Guo Q, McNutt M, Krull JE, Rodig SJ, Barouch DH, Nolan GP, Xu D, Jiang S, Li Z, Liu B, Ma Q. Graph Fourier transform for spatial omics representation and analyses of complex organs. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7467. [PMID: 39209833 PMCID: PMC11362340 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51590-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial omics technologies decipher functional components of complex organs at cellular and subcellular resolutions. We introduce Spatial Graph Fourier Transform (SpaGFT) and apply graph signal processing to a wide range of spatial omics profiling platforms to generate their interpretable representations. This representation supports spatially variable gene identification and improves gene expression imputation, outperforming existing tools in analyzing human and mouse spatial transcriptomics data. SpaGFT can identify immunological regions for B cell maturation in human lymph nodes Visium data and characterize variations in secondary follicles using in-house human tonsil CODEX data. Furthermore, it can be integrated seamlessly into other machine learning frameworks, enhancing accuracy in spatial domain identification, cell type annotation, and subcellular feature inference by up to 40%. Notably, SpaGFT detects rare subcellular organelles, such as Cajal bodies and Set1/COMPASS complexes, in high-resolution spatial proteomics data. This approach provides an explainable graph representation method for exploring tissue biology and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuzhou Chang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Jixin Liu
- School of Mathematics, Shandong University, 250100, Jinan, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Anjun Ma
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Yao Yu Yeo
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Program in Virology, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 20115, USA
| | - Qi Guo
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Megan McNutt
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Jordan E Krull
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Scott J Rodig
- Department of Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Dan H Barouch
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Garry P Nolan
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
| | - Dong Xu
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Sizun Jiang
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Program in Virology, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 20115, USA
- Department of Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Zihai Li
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Bingqiang Liu
- School of Mathematics, Shandong University, 250100, Jinan, China.
| | - Qin Ma
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA.
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5
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Priyadarshani P, Van Grouw A, Liversage AR, Rui K, Nikitina A, Tehrani KF, Aggarwal B, Stice SL, Sinha S, Kemp ML, Fernández FM, Mortensen LJ. Investigation of MSC potency metrics via integration of imaging modalities with lipidomic characterization. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114579. [PMID: 39153198 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 06/17/2024] [Accepted: 07/18/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cell (MSC) therapies have had limited success so far in clinical trials due in part to heterogeneity in immune-responsive phenotypes. Therefore, techniques to characterize these properties of MSCs are needed during biomanufacturing. Imaging cell shape, or morphology, has been found to be associated with MSC immune responsivity-but a direct relationship between single-cell morphology and function has not been established. We used label-free differential phase contrast imaging and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) to evaluate single-cell morphology and explore relationships with lipid metabolic immune response. In interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-stimulated MSCs, we found higher lipid abundances from the ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P), phosphatidylcholine (PC), LysoPC, and triglyceride (TAG) families that are involved in cell immune function. Furthermore, we identified differences in lipid signatures in morphologically defined MSC subpopulations. The use of single-cell optical imaging coupled with single-cell spatial lipidomics could assist in optimizing the MSC production process and improve mechanistic understanding of manufacturing process effects on MSC immune activity and heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priyanka Priyadarshani
- School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Regenerative Bioscience Center, Rhodes Center for ADS, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Alexandria Van Grouw
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Adrian Ross Liversage
- School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Regenerative Bioscience Center, Rhodes Center for ADS, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Kejie Rui
- School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Regenerative Bioscience Center, Rhodes Center for ADS, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Arina Nikitina
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Kayvan Forouhesh Tehrani
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| | - Bhavay Aggarwal
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Steven L Stice
- Regenerative Bioscience Center, Rhodes Center for ADS, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Saurabh Sinha
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Melissa L Kemp
- The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Facundo M Fernández
- School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Luke J Mortensen
- School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; Regenerative Bioscience Center, Rhodes Center for ADS, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
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6
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Das Adhikari S, Steele NG, Theisen B, Wang J, Cui Y. SPACE: Spatially variable gene clustering adjusting for cell type effect for improved spatial domain detection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.08.23.609477. [PMID: 39229093 PMCID: PMC11370608 DOI: 10.1101/2024.08.23.609477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Recent advances in spatial transcriptomics have significantly deepened our understanding of biology. A primary focus has been identifying spatially variable genes (SVGs) which are crucial for downstream tasks like spatial domain detection. Traditional methods often use all or a set number of top SVGs for this purpose. However, in diverse datasets with many SVGs, this approach may not ensure accurate results. Instead, grouping SVGs by expression patterns and using all SVG groups in downstream analysis can improve accuracy. Furthermore, classifying SVGs in this manner is akin to identifying cell type marker genes, offering valuable biological insights. The challenge lies in accurately categorizing SVGs into relevant clusters, aggravated by the absence of prior knowledge regarding the number and spectrum of spatial gene patterns. Addressing this challenge, we propose SPACE, SPatially variable gene clustering Adjusting for Cell type Effect, a framework that classifies SVGs based on their spatial patterns by adjusting for confounding effects caused by shared cell types, to improve spatial domain detection. This method does not require prior knowledge of gene cluster numbers, spatial patterns, or cell type information. Our comprehensive simulations and real data analyses demonstrate that SPACE is an efficient and promising tool for spatial transcriptomics analysis. Key Points SPACE eliminates the need for prior knowledge about the number of gene clusters, known cell types, or the quantity of SVGs to identify clusters for downstream analysis.SPACE offers a method to effectively leverage SVGs for low-dimensional embedding within each cluster to improve the accuracy of spatial domain detection.The efficiency and utility of the SPACE algorithm have been validated across multiple datasets and simulations, demonstrating its effectiveness in producing meaningful and interpretable results.
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7
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Kueckelhaus J, Frerich S, Kada-Benotmane J, Koupourtidou C, Ninkovic J, Dichgans M, Beck J, Schnell O, Heiland DH. Inferring histology-associated gene expression gradients in spatial transcriptomic studies. Nat Commun 2024; 15:7280. [PMID: 39179527 PMCID: PMC11343836 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50904-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics has revolutionized RNA studies by aligning RNA abundance with tissue structure, enabling direct comparisons between histology and gene expression. Traditional approaches to identifying signature genes often involve preliminary data grouping, which can overlook subtle expression patterns in complex tissues. We present Spatial Gradient Screening, an algorithm which facilitates the supervised detection of histology-associated gene expression patterns without prior data grouping. Utilizing spatial transcriptomic data along with single-cell deconvolution from injured mouse cortex, and TCR-seq data from brain tumors, we compare our methodology to standard differential gene expression analysis. Our findings illustrate both the advantages and limitations of cluster-free detection of gene expression, offering more profound insights into the spatial architecture of transcriptomes. The algorithm is embedded in SPATA2, an open-source framework written in R, which provides a comprehensive set of tools for investigating gene expression within tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Kueckelhaus
- Microenvironment and Immunology Research Laboratory, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Erlangen University, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Simon Frerich
- Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Jasim Kada-Benotmane
- Microenvironment and Immunology Research Laboratory, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Christina Koupourtidou
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Biomedical Center (BMC), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | - Jovica Ninkovic
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Biomedical Center (BMC), LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | - Martin Dichgans
- Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
- Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany
| | - Juergen Beck
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Oliver Schnell
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Erlangen University, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Dieter Henrik Heiland
- Microenvironment and Immunology Research Laboratory, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Freiburg University, Freiburg, Germany.
- Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine, Erlangen University, Erlangen, Germany.
- Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg (CCCF), Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK) partner site Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
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8
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Liu L, Chen A, Li Y, Mulder J, Heyn H, Xu X. Spatiotemporal omics for biology and medicine. Cell 2024; 187:4488-4519. [PMID: 39178830 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.07.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 07/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/26/2024]
Abstract
The completion of the Human Genome Project has provided a foundational blueprint for understanding human life. Nonetheless, understanding the intricate mechanisms through which our genetic blueprint is involved in disease or orchestrates development across temporal and spatial dimensions remains a profound scientific challenge. Recent breakthroughs in cellular omics technologies have paved new pathways for understanding the regulation of genomic elements and the relationship between gene expression, cellular functions, and cell fate determination. The advent of spatial omics technologies, encompassing both imaging and sequencing-based methodologies, has enabled a comprehensive understanding of biological processes from a cellular ecosystem perspective. This review offers an updated overview of how spatial omics has advanced our understanding of the translation of genetic information into cellular heterogeneity and tissue structural organization and their dynamic changes over time. It emphasizes the discovery of various biological phenomena, related to organ functionality, embryogenesis, species evolution, and the pathogenesis of diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ao Chen
- BGI Research, Shenzhen 518083, China
| | | | - Jan Mulder
- Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Holger Heyn
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Xun Xu
- BGI Research, Hangzhou 310030, China; BGI Research, Shenzhen 518083, China.
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9
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Li B, Bao F, Hou Y, Li F, Li H, Deng Y, Dai Q. Tissue characterization at an enhanced resolution across spatial omics platforms with deep generative model. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6541. [PMID: 39095360 PMCID: PMC11297205 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50837-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent advances in spatial omics have expanded the spectrum of profiled molecular categories beyond transcriptomics. However, many of these technologies are constrained by limited spatial resolution, hindering our ability to deeply characterize intricate tissue architectures. Existing computational methods primarily focus on the resolution enhancement of transcriptomics data, lacking the adaptability to address the emerging spatial omics technologies that profile various omics types. Here, we introduce soScope, a unified generative framework designed to enhance data quality and spatial resolution for molecular profiles obtained from diverse spatial technologies. soScope aggregates multimodal tissue information from omics, spatial relations and images, and jointly infers omics profiles at enhanced resolutions with omics-specific modeling through distribution priors. With comprehensive evaluations on diverse spatial omics platforms, including Visium, Xenium, spatial-CUT&Tag, and slide-DNA/RNA-seq, soScope improves performances in identifying biologically meaningful intestine and kidney architectures, revealing embryonic heart structure that cannot be resolved at the original resolution and correcting sample and technical biases arising from sequencing and sample processing. Furthermore, soScope extends to spatial multiomics technology spatial-CITE-seq and spatial ATAC-RNA-seq, leveraging cross-omics reference for simultaneous multiomics enhancement. soScope provides a versatile tool to improve the utilization of continually expanding spatial omics technologies and resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bohan Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Bao
- Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology (BNRist), Beijing, China
- Institute for Brain and Cognitive Science, Tsinghua University (THUIBCS), Beijing, China
- Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yimin Hou
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Fengji Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongjue Li
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China
| | - Yue Deng
- School of Artificial Intelligence, Beihang University, Beijing, China.
| | - Qionghai Dai
- Beijing National Research Center for Information Science and Technology (BNRist), Beijing, China.
- Institute for Brain and Cognitive Science, Tsinghua University (THUIBCS), Beijing, China.
- Department of Automation, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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10
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Tian T, Zhang J, Lin X, Wei Z, Hakonarson H. Dependency-aware deep generative models for multitasking analysis of spatial omics data. Nat Methods 2024; 21:1501-1513. [PMID: 38783067 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02257-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) technologies have significantly advanced biomedical research, but their data analysis remains challenging due to the discrete nature of the data and the high levels of noise, compounded by complex spatial dependencies. Here, we propose spaVAE, a dependency-aware, deep generative spatial variational autoencoder model that probabilistically characterizes count data while capturing spatial correlations. spaVAE introduces a hybrid embedding combining a Gaussian process prior with a Gaussian prior to explicitly capture spatial correlations among spots. It then optimizes the parameters of deep neural networks to approximate the distributions underlying the SRT data. With the approximated distributions, spaVAE can contribute to several analytical tasks that are essential for SRT data analysis, including dimensionality reduction, visualization, clustering, batch integration, denoising, differential expression, spatial interpolation, resolution enhancement and identification of spatially variable genes. Moreover, we have extended spaVAE to spaPeakVAE and spaMultiVAE to characterize spatial ATAC-seq (assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing) data and spatial multi-omics data, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tian Tian
- School of Computer Science, National Engineering Research Center for Multimedia Software, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, and Hubei Key Laboratory of Multimedia and Network Communication Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- Center for Applied Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jie Zhang
- National Key Laboratory for Novel Software Technology, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xiang Lin
- Department of Computer Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Zhi Wei
- Department of Computer Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
| | - Hakon Hakonarson
- Center for Applied Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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11
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Sun F, Li H, Sun D, Fu S, Gu L, Shao X, Wang Q, Dong X, Duan B, Xing F, Wu J, Xiao M, Zhao F, Han JDJ, Liu Q, Fan X, Li C, Wang C, Shi T. Single-cell omics: experimental workflow, data analyses and applications. SCIENCE CHINA. LIFE SCIENCES 2024:10.1007/s11427-023-2561-0. [PMID: 39060615 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-023-2561-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024]
Abstract
Cells are the fundamental units of biological systems and exhibit unique development trajectories and molecular features. Our exploration of how the genomes orchestrate the formation and maintenance of each cell, and control the cellular phenotypes of various organismsis, is both captivating and intricate. Since the inception of the first single-cell RNA technology, technologies related to single-cell sequencing have experienced rapid advancements in recent years. These technologies have expanded horizontally to include single-cell genome, epigenome, proteome, and metabolome, while vertically, they have progressed to integrate multiple omics data and incorporate additional information such as spatial scRNA-seq and CRISPR screening. Single-cell omics represent a groundbreaking advancement in the biomedical field, offering profound insights into the understanding of complex diseases, including cancers. Here, we comprehensively summarize recent advances in single-cell omics technologies, with a specific focus on the methodology section. This overview aims to guide researchers in selecting appropriate methods for single-cell sequencing and related data analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fengying Sun
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Affiliated Wuhu Hospital of East China Normal University (The Second People's Hospital of Wuhu City), Wuhu, 241000, China
| | - Haoyan Li
- Pharmaceutical Informatics Institute, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Dongqing Sun
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Frontier Science Center for Stem Cells, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Shaliu Fu
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy and Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Research Institute of Intelligent Computing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- Shanghai Research Institute for Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Lei Gu
- Center for Single-cell Omics, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Xin Shao
- Pharmaceutical Informatics Institute, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing, 314103, China
| | - Qinqin Wang
- Center for Single-cell Omics, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
| | - Xin Dong
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Frontier Science Center for Stem Cells, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Bin Duan
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy and Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Research Institute of Intelligent Computing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 311121, China
- Shanghai Research Institute for Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Shanghai, 201210, China
| | - Feiyang Xing
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China
- Frontier Science Center for Stem Cells, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Jun Wu
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, the Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China
| | - Minmin Xiao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Affiliated Wuhu Hospital of East China Normal University (The Second People's Hospital of Wuhu City), Wuhu, 241000, China.
| | - Fangqing Zhao
- Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Jing-Dong J Han
- Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Center for Quantitative Biology (CQB), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
| | - Qi Liu
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China.
- Translational Medical Center for Stem Cell Therapy and Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Shanghai East Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China.
- Research Institute of Intelligent Computing, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, 311121, China.
- Shanghai Research Institute for Intelligent Autonomous Systems, Shanghai, 201210, China.
| | - Xiaohui Fan
- Pharmaceutical Informatics Institute, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, Jiaxing, 314103, China.
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Therapy for Major Gynecological Diseases, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
| | - Chen Li
- Center for Single-cell Omics, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
| | - Chenfei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Spine and Spinal Cord Injury Repair and Regeneration (Tongji University), Ministry of Education, Orthopaedic Department, Tongji Hospital, Bioinformatics Department, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200082, China.
- Frontier Science Center for Stem Cells, School of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China.
| | - Tieliu Shi
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, the Affiliated Wuhu Hospital of East China Normal University (The Second People's Hospital of Wuhu City), Wuhu, 241000, China.
- Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, the Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
- Key Laboratory of Advanced Theory and Application in Statistics and Data Science-MOE, School of Statistics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
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12
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Yan G, Hua SH, Li JJ. Categorization of 31 computational methods to detect spatially variable genes from spatially resolved transcriptomics data. ARXIV 2024:arXiv:2405.18779v2. [PMID: 38855546 PMCID: PMC11160866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
In the analysis of spatially resolved transcriptomics data, detecting spatially variable genes (SVGs) is crucial. Numerous computational methods exist, but varying SVG definitions and methodologies lead to incomparable results. We review 31 state-of-the-art methods, categorizing SVGs into three types: overall, cell-type-specific, and spatial-domain-marker SVGs. Our review explains the intuitions underlying these methods, summarizes their applications, and categorizes the hypothesis tests they use in the trade-off between generality and specificity for SVG detection. We discuss challenges in SVG detection and propose future directions for improvement. Our review offers insights for method developers and users, advocating for category-specific benchmarking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guanao Yan
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1554
| | - Shuo Harper Hua
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Jingyi Jessica Li
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1554
- Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7088
- Department of Computational Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1766
- Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
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13
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Yuan X, Ma Y, Gao R, Cui S, Wang Y, Fa B, Ma S, Wei T, Ma S, Yu Z. HEARTSVG: a fast and accurate method for identifying spatially variable genes in large-scale spatial transcriptomics. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5700. [PMID: 38972896 PMCID: PMC11228050 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49846-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Identifying spatially variable genes (SVGs) is crucial for understanding the spatiotemporal characteristics of diseases and tissue structures, posing a distinctive challenge in spatial transcriptomics research. We propose HEARTSVG, a distribution-free, test-based method for fast and accurately identifying spatially variable genes in large-scale spatial transcriptomic data. Extensive simulations demonstrate that HEARTSVG outperforms state-of-the-art methods with higherF 1 scores (averageF 1 Score=0.948), improved computational efficiency, scalability, and reduced false positives (FPs). Through analysis of twelve real datasets from various spatial transcriptomic technologies, HEARTSVG identifies a greater number of biologically significant SVGs (average AUC = 0.792) than other comparative methods without prespecifying spatial patterns. Furthermore, by clustering SVGs, we uncover two distinct tumor spatial domains characterized by unique spatial expression patterns, spatial-temporal locations, and biological functions in human colorectal cancer data, unraveling the complexity of tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Yuan
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- SJTU-Yale Joint Center for Biostatistics and Data Science Organization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yanran Ma
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ruitian Gao
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shuya Cui
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- SJTU-Yale Joint Center for Biostatistics and Data Science Organization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yifan Wang
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Botao Fa
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China
| | - Shiyang Ma
- Clinical Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Ting Wei
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shuangge Ma
- SJTU-Yale Joint Center for Biostatistics and Data Science Organization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
| | - Zhangsheng Yu
- Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
- SJTU-Yale Joint Center for Biostatistics and Data Science Organization, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
- Clinical Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Center for Biomedical Data Science, Translational Science Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
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14
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Di Mauro F, Arbore G. Spatial Dissection of the Immune Landscape of Solid Tumors to Advance Precision Medicine. Cancer Immunol Res 2024; 12:800-813. [PMID: 38657223 PMCID: PMC11217735 DOI: 10.1158/2326-6066.cir-23-0699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Chemotherapeutics, radiation, targeted therapeutics, and immunotherapeutics each demonstrate clinical benefits for a small subset of patients with solid malignancies. Immune cells infiltrating the tumor and the surrounding stroma play a critical role in shaping cancer progression and modulating therapy response. They do this by interacting with the other cellular and molecular components of the tumor microenvironment. Spatial multi-omics technologies are rapidly evolving. Currently, such technologies allow high-throughput RNA and protein profiling and retain geographical information about the tumor microenvironment cellular architecture and the functional phenotype of tumor, immune, and stromal cells. An in-depth spatial characterization of the heterogeneous tumor immune landscape can improve not only the prognosis but also the prediction of therapy response, directing cancer patients to more tailored and efficacious treatments. This review highlights recent advancements in spatial transcriptomics and proteomics profiling technologies and the ways these technologies are being applied for the dissection of the immune cell composition in solid malignancies in order to further both basic research in oncology and the implementation of precision treatments in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Di Mauro
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
- Experimental Immunology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
| | - Giuseppina Arbore
- Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
- Experimental Immunology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
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15
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Li H, Zhu B, Jiang X, Guo L, Xie Y, Xu L, Li Q. An interpretable Bayesian clustering approach with feature selection for analyzing spatially resolved transcriptomics data. Biometrics 2024; 80:ujae066. [PMID: 39073775 DOI: 10.1093/biomtc/ujae066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 07/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
Recent breakthroughs in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) technologies have enabled comprehensive molecular characterization at the spot or cellular level while preserving spatial information. Cells are the fundamental building blocks of tissues, organized into distinct yet connected components. Although many non-spatial and spatial clustering approaches have been used to partition the entire region into mutually exclusive spatial domains based on the SRT high-dimensional molecular profile, most require an ad hoc selection of less interpretable dimensional-reduction techniques. To overcome this challenge, we propose a zero-inflated negative binomial mixture model to cluster spots or cells based on their molecular profiles. To increase interpretability, we employ a feature selection mechanism to provide a low-dimensional summary of the SRT molecular profile in terms of discriminating genes that shed light on the clustering result. We further incorporate the SRT geospatial profile via a Markov random field prior. We demonstrate how this joint modeling strategy improves clustering accuracy, compared with alternative state-of-the-art approaches, through simulation studies and 3 real data applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huimin Li
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
| | - Bencong Zhu
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
- Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xi Jiang
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75205, United States
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | - Lei Guo
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | - Yang Xie
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | - Lin Xu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, United States
| | - Qiwei Li
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75080, United States
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16
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Aihara G, Clifton K, Chen M, Li Z, Atta L, Miller BF, Satija R, Hickey JW, Fan J. SEraster: a rasterization preprocessing framework for scalable spatial omics data analysis. Bioinformatics 2024; 40:btae412. [PMID: 38902953 PMCID: PMC11226864 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION Spatial omics data demand computational analysis but many analysis tools have computational resource requirements that increase with the number of cells analyzed. This presents scalability challenges as researchers use spatial omics technologies to profile millions of cells. RESULTS To enhance the scalability of spatial omics data analysis, we developed a rasterization preprocessing framework called SEraster that aggregates cellular information into spatial pixels. We apply SEraster to both real and simulated spatial omics data prior to spatial variable gene expression analysis to demonstrate that such preprocessing can reduce computational resource requirements while maintaining high performance, including as compared to other down-sampling approaches. We further integrate SEraster with existing analysis tools to characterize cell-type spatial co-enrichment across length scales. Finally, we apply SEraster to enable analysis of a mouse pup spatial omics dataset with over a million cells to identify tissue-level and cell-type-specific spatially variable genes as well as spatially co-enriched cell types that recapitulate expected organ structures. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION SEraster is implemented as an R package on GitHub (https://github.com/JEFworks-Lab/SEraster) with additional tutorials at https://JEF.works/SEraster.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gohta Aihara
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Kalen Clifton
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Mayling Chen
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Zhuoyan Li
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY 10013, United States
| | - Lyla Atta
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Brendan F Miller
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
| | - Rahul Satija
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY 10013, United States
- Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, United States
| | - John W Hickey
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, United States
| | - Jean Fan
- Center for Computational Biology, Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21211, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
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17
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Wang Y, Zhou F, Guan J. SFINN: inferring gene regulatory network from single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data with shared factor neighborhood and integrated neural network. BIOINFORMATICS (OXFORD, ENGLAND) 2024; 40:btae433. [PMID: 38950180 PMCID: PMC11236097 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2024] [Revised: 06/18/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
MOTIVATION The rise of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology presents new opportunities for constructing detailed cell type-specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs) to study cell heterogeneity. However, challenges caused by noises, technical errors, and dropout phenomena in scRNA-seq data pose significant obstacles to GRN inference, making the design of accurate GRN inference algorithms still essential. The recent growth of both single-cell and spatial transcriptomic sequencing data enables the development of supervised deep learning methods to infer GRNs on these diverse single-cell datasets. RESULTS In this study, we introduce a novel deep learning framework based on shared factor neighborhood and integrated neural network (SFINN) for inferring potential interactions and causalities between transcription factors and target genes from single-cell and spatial transcriptomic data. SFINN utilizes shared factor neighborhood to construct cellular neighborhood network based on gene expression data and additionally integrates cellular network generated from spatial location information. Subsequently, the cell adjacency matrix and gene pair expression are fed into an integrated neural network framework consisting of a graph convolutional neural network and a fully-connected neural network to determine whether the genes interact. Performance evaluation in the tasks of gene interaction and causality prediction against the existing GRN reconstruction algorithms demonstrates the usability and competitiveness of SFINN across different kinds of data. SFINN can be applied to infer GRNs from conventional single-cell sequencing data and spatial transcriptomic data. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION SFINN can be accessed at GitHub: https://github.com/JGuan-lab/SFINN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongjie Wang
- Department of Automation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Fengfan Zhou
- Department of Automation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
| | - Jinting Guan
- Department of Automation, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
- Key Laboratory of System Control and Information Processing, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 200240, China
- National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361102, China
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18
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Lee HJ, Moreira ML, Li S, Asatsuma T, Williams CG, Skinner OP, Asad S, Bramhall M, Jiang Z, Liu Z, Kerr AS, Engel JA, Soon MSF, Straube J, Barrera I, Murray E, Chen F, Nideffer J, Jagannathan P, Haque A. CD4 + T cells display a spectrum of recall dynamics during re-infection with malaria parasites. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5497. [PMID: 38944658 PMCID: PMC11214622 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49879-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Children in malaria-endemic regions can experience repeated Plasmodium infections over short periods of time. Effects of re-infection on multiple co-existing CD4+ T cell subsets remain unresolved. Here, we examine antigen-experienced CD4+ T cells during re-infection in mice, using scRNA-seq/TCR-seq and spatial transcriptomics. TCR transgenic TEM cells initiate rapid Th1/Tr1 recall responses prior to proliferating, while GC Tfh counterparts are refractory, with TCM/Tfh-like cells exhibiting modest non-proliferative responses. Th1-recall is a partial facsimile of primary Th1-responses, with no upregulated effector-associated genes being unique to recall. Polyclonal, TCR-diverse, CD4+ T cells exhibit similar recall dynamics, with individual clones giving rise to multiple effectors including highly proliferative Th1/Tr1 cells, as well as GC Tfh and Tfh-like cells lacking proliferative capacity. Thus, we show substantial diversity in recall responses mounted by multiple co-existing CD4+ T cell subsets in the spleen, and present graphical user interfaces for studying gene expression dynamics and clonal relationships during re-infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun Jae Lee
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Marcela L Moreira
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Shihan Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Takahiro Asatsuma
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Cameron G Williams
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Oliver P Skinner
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Saba Asad
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Michael Bramhall
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Zhe Jiang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Zihan Liu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Ashlyn S Kerr
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Jessica A Engel
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Megan S F Soon
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Jasmin Straube
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Evan Murray
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Fei Chen
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Prasanna Jagannathan
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, CA, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, CA, USA
| | - Ashraful Haque
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, located at The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
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19
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Jin Y, Zuo Y, Li G, Liu W, Pan Y, Fan T, Fu X, Yao X, Peng Y. Advances in spatial transcriptomics and its applications in cancer research. Mol Cancer 2024; 23:129. [PMID: 38902727 PMCID: PMC11188176 DOI: 10.1186/s12943-024-02040-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Malignant tumors have increasing morbidity and high mortality, and their occurrence and development is a complicate process. The development of sequencing technologies enabled us to gain a better understanding of the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms in tumors. In recent years, the spatial transcriptomics sequencing technologies have been developed rapidly and allow the quantification and illustration of gene expression in the spatial context of tissues. Compared with the traditional transcriptomics technologies, spatial transcriptomics technologies not only detect gene expression levels in cells, but also inform the spatial location of genes within tissues, cell composition of biological tissues, and interaction between cells. Here we summarize the development of spatial transcriptomics technologies, spatial transcriptomics tools and its application in cancer research. We also discuss the limitations and challenges of current spatial transcriptomics approaches, as well as future development and prospects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Jin
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Yuanli Zuo
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Gang Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu, Chengdu, 610061, China
| | - Wenrong Liu
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Yitong Pan
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Ting Fan
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xin Fu
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Xiaojun Yao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu, Chengdu, 610061, China.
| | - Yong Peng
- Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China.
- Frontier Medical Center, Tianfu Jincheng Laboratory, Chengdu, 610212, China.
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20
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Qian J, Bao H, Shao X, Fang Y, Liao J, Chen Z, Li C, Guo W, Hu Y, Li A, Yao Y, Fan X, Cheng Y. Simulating multiple variability in spatially resolved transcriptomics with scCube. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5021. [PMID: 38866768 PMCID: PMC11169532 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49445-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
A pressing challenge in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) is to benchmark the computational methods. A widely-used approach involves utilizing simulated data. However, biases exist in terms of the currently available simulated SRT data, which seriously affects the accuracy of method evaluation and validation. Herein, we present scCube ( https://github.com/ZJUFanLab/scCube ), a Python package for independent, reproducible, and technology-diverse simulation of SRT data. scCube not only enables the preservation of spatial expression patterns of genes in reference-based simulations, but also generates simulated data with different spatial variability (covering the spatial pattern type, the resolution, the spot arrangement, the targeted gene type, and the tissue slice dimension, etc.) in reference-free simulations. We comprehensively benchmark scCube with existing single-cell or SRT simulators, and demonstrate the utility of scCube in benchmarking spot deconvolution, gene imputation, and resolution enhancement methods in detail through three applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingyang Qian
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Hudong Bao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xin Shao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Yin Fang
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Jie Liao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Zhuo Chen
- College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Chengyu Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Wenbo Guo
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Yining Hu
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Anyao Li
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Yue Yao
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China
| | - Xiaohui Fan
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China.
- Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Precision Diagnosis and Therapy for Major Gynecological Diseases, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310006, China.
| | - Yiyu Cheng
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- National Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang University, 314100, Jiaxing, China.
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21
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Lin S, Cui Y, Zhao F, Yang Z, Song J, Yao J, Zhao Y, Qian BZ, Zhao Y, Yuan Z. Complete spatially resolved gene expression is not necessary for identifying spatial domains. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100565. [PMID: 38781966 PMCID: PMC11228956 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) technologies have revolutionized the study of tissue organization. We introduce a graph convolutional network with an attention and positive emphasis mechanism, termed BINARY, relying exclusively on binarized SRT data to accurately delineate spatial domains. BINARY outperforms existing methods across various SRT data types while using significantly less input information. Our study suggests that precise gene expression quantification may not always be essential, inspiring further exploration of the broader applications of spatially resolved binarized gene expression data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Senlin Lin
- Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Cui
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Center for Medical Research and Innovation, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fangyuan Zhao
- Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhidong Yang
- Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jiangning Song
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | | | - Yu Zhao
- AI Lab, Tencent, Shenzhen, China
| | - Bin-Zhi Qian
- Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, The Human Phenome Institute, Zhangjiang-Fudan International Innovation Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Zhao
- Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Zhiyuan Yuan
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, MOE Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Center for Medical Research and Innovation, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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22
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Jiang X, Wang S, Guo L, Zhu B, Wen Z, Jia L, Xu L, Xiao G, Li Q. iIMPACT: integrating image and molecular profiles for spatial transcriptomics analysis. Genome Biol 2024; 25:147. [PMID: 38844966 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03289-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Current clustering analysis of spatial transcriptomics data primarily relies on molecular information and fails to fully exploit the morphological features present in histology images, leading to compromised accuracy and interpretability. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a multi-stage statistical method called iIMPACT. It identifies and defines histology-based spatial domains based on AI-reconstructed histology images and spatial context of gene expression measurements, and detects domain-specific differentially expressed genes. Through multiple case studies, we demonstrate iIMPACT outperforms existing methods in accuracy and interpretability and provides insights into the cellular spatial organization and landscape of functional genes within spatial transcriptomics data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi Jiang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Shidan Wang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Lei Guo
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Bencong Zhu
- Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
| | - Zhuoyu Wen
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Liwei Jia
- Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Lin Xu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
| | - Guanghua Xiao
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
| | - Qiwei Li
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
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23
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Filipovic D, Kana O, Marri D, Bhattacharya S. Unique challenges and best practices for single cell transcriptomic analysis in toxicology. CURRENT OPINION IN TOXICOLOGY 2024; 38:100475. [PMID: 38645720 PMCID: PMC11027889 DOI: 10.1016/j.cotox.2024.100475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
The application and analysis of single-cell transcriptomics in toxicology presents unique challenges. These include identifying cell sub-populations sensitive to perturbation; interpreting dynamic shifts in cell type proportions in response to chemical exposures; and performing differential expression analysis in dose-response studies spanning multiple treatment conditions. This review examines these challenges while presenting best practices for critical single cell analysis tasks. This covers areas such as cell type identification; analysis of differential cell type abundance; differential gene expression; and cellular trajectories. Towards enhancing the use of single-cell transcriptomics in toxicology, this review aims to address key challenges in this field and offer practical analytical solutions. Overall, applying appropriate bioinformatic techniques to single-cell transcriptomic data can yield valuable insights into cellular responses to toxic exposures.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Filipovic
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Omar Kana
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Daniel Marri
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Sudin Bhattacharya
- Institute for Quantitative Health Science & Engineering, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Institute for Integrative Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
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24
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Zhang Y, Lee RY, Tan CW, Guo X, Yim WWY, Lim JC, Wee FY, Yang WU, Kharbanda M, Lee JYJ, Ngo NT, Leow WQ, Loo LH, Lim TK, Sobota RM, Lau MC, Davis MJ, Yeong J. Spatial omics techniques and data analysis for cancer immunotherapy applications. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2024; 87:103111. [PMID: 38520821 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
In-depth profiling of cancer cells/tissues is expanding our understanding of the genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic landscape of cancer. However, the complexity of the cancer microenvironment, particularly its immune regulation, has made it difficult to exploit the potential of cancer immunotherapy. High-throughput spatial omics technologies and analysis pipelines have emerged as powerful tools for tackling this challenge. As a result, a potential revolution in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment is on the horizon. In this review, we discuss the technological advances in spatial profiling of cancer around and beyond the central dogma to harness the full benefits of immunotherapy. We also discuss the promise and challenges of spatial data analysis and interpretation and provide an outlook for the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Zhang
- Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Ren Yuan Lee
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 169856 Singapore; Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution, Singapore 169874, Singapore
| | - Chin Wee Tan
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Xue Guo
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Willa W-Y Yim
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Jeffrey Ct Lim
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Felicia Yt Wee
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - W U Yang
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Malvika Kharbanda
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - Jia-Ying J Lee
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Nye Thane Ngo
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Wei Qiang Leow
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Lit-Hsin Loo
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore
| | - Tony Kh Lim
- Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Radoslaw M Sobota
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore
| | - Mai Chan Lau
- Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore; Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 138648, Singapore
| | - Melissa J Davis
- Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria 3052, Australia; Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Frazer Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia; immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia; Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Joe Yeong
- Institute of Molecular Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 169856, Singapore; Bioinformatics Institute (BII), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A⁎STAR), Singapore 138671, Singapore.
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25
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Zhang L, Xiong Z, Xiao M. A Review of the Application of Spatial Transcriptomics in Neuroscience. Interdiscip Sci 2024; 16:243-260. [PMID: 38374297 DOI: 10.1007/s12539-024-00603-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
Since spatial transcriptomics can locate and distinguish the gene expression of functional genes in special regions and tissue, it is important for us to investigate the brain development, the development mechanism of brain diseases, and the relationship between brain structure and function in Neuroscience (or Brain science). While previous studies have introduced the crucial spatial transcriptomic techniques and data analysis methods, there are few studies to comprehensively overview the key methods, data resources, and technological applications of spatial transcriptomics in Neuroscience. For these reasons, we first investigate several common spatial transcriptomic data analysis approaches and data resources. Second, we introduce the applications of the spatial transcriptomic data analysis approaches in Neuroscience. Third, we summarize the integrating spatial transcriptomics with other technologies in Neuroscience. Finally, we discuss the challenges and future research directions of spatial transcriptomics in Neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le Zhang
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China
| | - Zhenqi Xiong
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China
| | - Ming Xiao
- College of Computer Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China.
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26
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Wang Y, Liu Z, Ma X. MNMST: topology of cell networks leverages identification of spatial domains from spatial transcriptomics data. Genome Biol 2024; 25:133. [PMID: 38783355 PMCID: PMC11112797 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03272-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Advances in spatial transcriptomics provide an unprecedented opportunity to reveal the structure and function of biology systems. However, current algorithms fail to address the heterogeneity and interpretability of spatial transcriptomics data. Here, we present a multi-layer network model for identifying spatial domains in spatial transcriptomics data with joint learning. We demonstrate that spatial domains can be precisely characterized and discriminated by the topological structure of cell networks, facilitating identification and interpretability of spatial domains, which outperforms state-of-the-art baselines. Furthermore, we prove that network model offers an effective and efficient strategy for integrative analysis of spatial transcriptomics data from various platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Wang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, No.2 South Taibai Road, Xi'an, 710071, Shaanxi, China
- Key Laboratory of Smart Human-Computer Interaction and Wearable Technology of Shaanxi Province, Xidian University, No.2 South Taibai Road, Xi'an, 710071, Shaanxi, China
| | - Zaiyi Liu
- Department of Radiology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, 106 Zhongshan Er Road, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Image Analysis and Application, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, 106 Zhongshan Er Road, Guangzhou, 510080, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaoke Ma
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, No.2 South Taibai Road, Xi'an, 710071, Shaanxi, China.
- Key Laboratory of Smart Human-Computer Interaction and Wearable Technology of Shaanxi Province, Xidian University, No.2 South Taibai Road, Xi'an, 710071, Shaanxi, China.
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27
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Baul S, Tanvir Ahmed K, Jiang Q, Wang G, Li Q, Yong J, Zhang W. Integrating spatial transcriptomics and bulk RNA-seq: predicting gene expression with enhanced resolution through graph attention networks. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae316. [PMID: 38960406 PMCID: PMC11221891 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Revised: 06/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/17/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial transcriptomics data play a crucial role in cancer research, providing a nuanced understanding of the spatial organization of gene expression within tumor tissues. Unraveling the spatial dynamics of gene expression can unveil key insights into tumor heterogeneity and aid in identifying potential therapeutic targets. However, in many large-scale cancer studies, spatial transcriptomics data are limited, with bulk RNA-seq and corresponding Whole Slide Image (WSI) data being more common (e.g. TCGA project). To address this gap, there is a critical need to develop methodologies that can estimate gene expression at near-cell (spot) level resolution from existing WSI and bulk RNA-seq data. This approach is essential for reanalyzing expansive cohort studies and uncovering novel biomarkers that have been overlooked in the initial assessments. In this study, we present STGAT (Spatial Transcriptomics Graph Attention Network), a novel approach leveraging Graph Attention Networks (GAT) to discern spatial dependencies among spots. Trained on spatial transcriptomics data, STGAT is designed to estimate gene expression profiles at spot-level resolution and predict whether each spot represents tumor or non-tumor tissue, especially in patient samples where only WSI and bulk RNA-seq data are available. Comprehensive tests on two breast cancer spatial transcriptomics datasets demonstrated that STGAT outperformed existing methods in accurately predicting gene expression. Further analyses using the TCGA breast cancer dataset revealed that gene expression estimated from tumor-only spots (predicted by STGAT) provides more accurate molecular signatures for breast cancer sub-type and tumor stage prediction, and also leading to improved patient survival and disease-free analysis. Availability: Code is available at https://github.com/compbiolabucf/STGAT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudipto Baul
- Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, United States
| | - Khandakar Tanvir Ahmed
- Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, United States
| | - Qibing Jiang
- Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, United States
| | - Guangyu Wang
- Houston Methodist Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College, Houston, TX 77030, United States
| | - Qian Li
- Department of Biostatistics, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, United States
| | - Jeongsik Yong
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States
| | - Wei Zhang
- Department of Computer Science, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, United States
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28
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Ospina OE, Soupir AC, Manjarres-Betancur R, Gonzalez-Calderon G, Yu X, Fridley BL. Differential gene expression analysis of spatial transcriptomic experiments using spatial mixed models. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10967. [PMID: 38744956 PMCID: PMC11094014 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-61758-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatial transcriptomics (ST) assays represent a revolution in how the architecture of tissues is studied by allowing for the exploration of cells in their spatial context. A common element in the analysis is delineating tissue domains or "niches" followed by detecting differentially expressed genes to infer the biological identity of the tissue domains or cell types. However, many studies approach differential expression analysis by using statistical approaches often applied in the analysis of non-spatial scRNA data (e.g., two-sample t-tests, Wilcoxon's rank sum test), hence neglecting the spatial dependency observed in ST data. In this study, we show that applying linear mixed models with spatial correlation structures using spatial random effects effectively accounts for the spatial autocorrelation and reduces inflation of type-I error rate observed in non-spatial based differential expression testing. We also show that spatial linear models with an exponential correlation structure provide a better fit to the ST data as compared to non-spatial models, particularly for spatially resolved technologies that quantify expression at finer scales (i.e., single-cell resolution).
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Affiliation(s)
- Oscar E Ospina
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Alex C Soupir
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
| | | | | | - Xiaoqing Yu
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Brooke L Fridley
- Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, FL, USA.
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Core, Division of Health Services & Outcomes Research, Children's Mercy, Kansas City, MO, USA.
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29
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Schmidt M, Avagyan S, Reiche K, Binder H, Loeffler-Wirth H. A Spatial Transcriptomics Browser for Discovering Gene Expression Landscapes across Microscopic Tissue Sections. Curr Issues Mol Biol 2024; 46:4701-4720. [PMID: 38785552 PMCID: PMC11119626 DOI: 10.3390/cimb46050284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
A crucial feature of life is its spatial organization and compartmentalization on the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels. Spatial transcriptomics (ST) technology has opened a new chapter of the sequencing revolution, emerging rapidly with transformative effects across biology. This technique produces extensive and complex sequencing data, raising the need for computational methods for their comprehensive analysis and interpretation. We developed the ST browser web tool for the interactive discovery of ST images, focusing on different functional aspects such as single gene expression, the expression of functional gene sets, as well as the inspection of the spatial patterns of cell-cell interactions. As a unique feature, our tool applies self-organizing map (SOM) machine learning to the ST data. Our SOM data portrayal method generates individual gene expression landscapes for each spot in the ST image, enabling its downstream analysis with high resolution. The performance of the spatial browser is demonstrated by disentangling the intra-tumoral heterogeneity of melanoma and the microarchitecture of the mouse brain. The integration of machine-learning-based SOM portrayal into an interactive ST analysis environment opens novel perspectives for the comprehensive knowledge mining of the organization and interactions of cellular ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Schmidt
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics (IZBI), Leipzig University, Härtelstr. 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany; (M.S.); (H.B.)
| | - Susanna Avagyan
- Armenian Bioinformatics Institute, 3/6 Nelson Stepanyan Str., Yerevan 0062, Armenia
| | - Kristin Reiche
- Department of Diagnostics, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI), Perlickstrasse 1, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Immunology, University Hospital of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Hans Binder
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics (IZBI), Leipzig University, Härtelstr. 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany; (M.S.); (H.B.)
- Armenian Bioinformatics Institute, 3/6 Nelson Stepanyan Str., Yerevan 0062, Armenia
| | - Henry Loeffler-Wirth
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioinformatics (IZBI), Leipzig University, Härtelstr. 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany; (M.S.); (H.B.)
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30
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Li J, Wang Y, Raina MA, Xu C, Su L, Guo Q, Ma Q, Wang J, Xu D. scBSP: A fast and accurate tool for identifying spatially variable genes from spatial transcriptomic data. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.06.592851. [PMID: 38765956 PMCID: PMC11100755 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.06.592851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2024]
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics have enabled the inference of gene expression patterns within two and three-dimensional space, while introducing computational challenges due to growing spatial resolutions and sparse expressions. Here, we introduce scBSP, an open-source, versatile, and user-friendly package designed for identifying spatially variable genes in large-scale spatial transcriptomics. scBSP implements sparse matrix operation to significantly increase the computational efficiency in both computational time and memory usage, processing the high-definition spatial transcriptomics data for 19,950 genes on 181,367 spots within 10 seconds. Applied to diverse sequencing data and simulations, scBSP efficiently identifies spatially variable genes, demonstrating fast computational speed and consistency across various sequencing techniques and spatial resolutions for both two and three-dimensional data with up to millions of cells. On a sample with hundreds of thousands of sports, scBSP identifies SVGs accurately in seconds to on a typical desktop computer.
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31
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Fujiwara N, Kimura G, Nakagawa H. Emerging Roles of Spatial Transcriptomics in Liver Research. Semin Liver Dis 2024; 44:115-132. [PMID: 38574750 DOI: 10.1055/a-2299-7880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Spatial transcriptomics, leveraging sequencing- and imaging-based techniques, has emerged as a groundbreaking technology for mapping gene expression within the complex architectures of tissues. This approach provides an in-depth understanding of cellular and molecular dynamics across various states of healthy and diseased livers. Through the integration of sophisticated bioinformatics strategies, it enables detailed exploration of cellular heterogeneity, transitions in cell states, and intricate cell-cell interactions with remarkable precision. In liver research, spatial transcriptomics has been particularly revelatory, identifying distinct zonated functions of hepatocytes that are crucial for understanding the metabolic and detoxification processes of the liver. Moreover, this technology has unveiled new insights into the pathogenesis of liver diseases, such as the role of lipid-associated macrophages in steatosis and endothelial cell signals in liver regeneration and repair. In the domain of liver cancer, spatial transcriptomics has proven instrumental in delineating intratumor heterogeneity, identifying supportive microenvironmental niches and revealing the complex interplay between tumor cells and the immune system as well as susceptibility to immune checkpoint inhibitors. In conclusion, spatial transcriptomics represents a significant advance in hepatology, promising to enhance our understanding and treatment of liver diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoto Fujiwara
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Mie, Japan
| | - Genki Kimura
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Mie, Japan
| | - Hayato Nakagawa
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Graduate School of Medicine, Mie University, Mie, Japan
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32
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Nelson ED, Tippani M, Ramnauth AD, Divecha HR, Miller RA, Eagles NJ, Pattie EA, Kwon SH, Bach SV, Kaipa UM, Yao J, Kleinman JE, Collado-Torres L, Han S, Maynard KR, Hyde TM, Martinowich K, Page SC, Hicks SC. An integrated single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomics atlas reveals the molecular landscape of the human hippocampus. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.26.590643. [PMID: 38712198 PMCID: PMC11071618 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.26.590643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
The hippocampus contains many unique cell types, which serve the structure's specialized functions, including learning, memory and cognition. These cells have distinct spatial topography, morphology, physiology, and connectivity, highlighting the need for transcriptome-wide profiling strategies that retain cytoarchitectural organization. Here, we generated spatially-resolved transcriptomics (SRT) and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) data from adjacent tissue sections of the anterior human hippocampus across ten adult neurotypical donors. We defined molecular profiles for hippocampal cell types and spatial domains. Using non-negative matrix factorization and transfer learning, we integrated these data to define gene expression patterns within the snRNA-seq data and infer the expression of these patterns in the SRT data. With this approach, we leveraged existing rodent datasets that feature information on circuit connectivity and neural activity induction to make predictions about axonal projection targets and likelihood of ensemble recruitment in spatially-defined cellular populations of the human hippocampus. Finally, we integrated genome-wide association studies with transcriptomic data to identify enrichment of genetic components for neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders across cell types, spatial domains, and gene expression patterns of the human hippocampus. To make this comprehensive molecular atlas accessible to the scientific community, both raw and processed data are freely available, including through interactive web applications.
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Daly AC, Cambuli F, Äijö T, Lötstedt B, Marjanovic N, Kuksenko O, Smith-Erb M, Fernandez S, Domovic D, Van Wittenberghe N, Drokhlyansky E, Griffin GK, Phatnani H, Bonneau R, Regev A, Vickovic S. Tissue and cellular spatiotemporal dynamics in colon aging. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.22.590125. [PMID: 38712088 PMCID: PMC11071407 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.22.590125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Tissue structure and molecular circuitry in the colon can be profoundly impacted by systemic age-related effects, but many of the underlying molecular cues remain unclear. Here, we built a cellular and spatial atlas of the colon across three anatomical regions and 11 age groups, encompassing ~1,500 mouse gut tissues profiled by spatial transcriptomics and ~400,000 single nucleus RNA-seq profiles. We developed a new computational framework, cSplotch, which learns a hierarchical Bayesian model of spatially resolved cellular expression associated with age, tissue region, and sex, by leveraging histological features to share information across tissue samples and data modalities. Using this model, we identified cellular and molecular gradients along the adult colonic tract and across the main crypt axis, and multicellular programs associated with aging in the large intestine. Our multi-modal framework for the investigation of cell and tissue organization can aid in the understanding of cellular roles in tissue-level pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aidan C. Daly
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | | | - Tarmo Äijö
- Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Britta Lötstedt
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Nemanja Marjanovic
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Olena Kuksenko
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Eugene Drokhlyansky
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Gabriel K Griffin
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hemali Phatnani
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Richard Bonneau
- Center for Computational Biology, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Data Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- Current address: Genentech, 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Aviv Regev
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Current address: Genentech, 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Sanja Vickovic
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA
- Klarman Cell Observatory Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering and Herbert Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Beijer Laboratory for Gene and Neuro Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
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34
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Chakrabarti A, Ni Y, Mallick BK. Joint Bayesian estimation of cell dependence and gene associations in spatially resolved transcriptomic data. Sci Rep 2024; 14:9516. [PMID: 38664448 PMCID: PMC11045727 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60002-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent technologies such as spatial transcriptomics, enable the measurement of gene expressions at the single-cell level along with the spatial locations of these cells in the tissue. Spatial clustering of the cells provides valuable insights into the understanding of the functional organization of the tissue. However, most such clustering methods involve some dimension reduction that leads to a loss of the inherent dependency structure among genes at any spatial location in the tissue. This destroys valuable insights of gene co-expression patterns apart from possibly impacting spatial clustering performance. In spatial transcriptomics, the matrix-variate gene expression data, along with spatial coordinates of the single cells, provides information on both gene expression dependencies and cell spatial dependencies through its row and column covariances. In this work, we propose a joint Bayesian approach to simultaneously estimate these gene and spatial cell correlations. These estimates provide data summaries for downstream analyses. We illustrate our method with simulations and analysis of several real spatial transcriptomic datasets. Our work elucidates gene co-expression networks as well as clear spatial clustering patterns of the cells. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that downstream spatial-differential analysis may aid in the discovery of unknown cell types from known marker genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arhit Chakrabarti
- Department of Statistics, Texas A &M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
| | - Yang Ni
- Department of Statistics, Texas A &M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Bani K Mallick
- Department of Statistics, Texas A &M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
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35
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Yang J, Jiang X, Jin KW, Shin S, Li Q. Bayesian hidden mark interaction model for detecting spatially variable genes in imaging-based spatially resolved transcriptomics data. Front Genet 2024; 15:1356709. [PMID: 38725485 PMCID: PMC11079231 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1356709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Recent technology breakthroughs in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) have enabled the comprehensive molecular characterization of cells whilst preserving their spatial and gene expression contexts. One of the fundamental questions in analyzing SRT data is the identification of spatially variable genes whose expressions display spatially correlated patterns. Existing approaches are built upon either the Gaussian process-based model, which relies on ad hoc kernels, or the energy-based Ising model, which requires gene expression to be measured on a lattice grid. To overcome these potential limitations, we developed a generalized energy-based framework to model gene expression measured from imaging-based SRT platforms, accommodating the irregular spatial distribution of measured cells. Our Bayesian model applies a zero-inflated negative binomial mixture model to dichotomize the raw count data, reducing noise. Additionally, we incorporate a geostatistical mark interaction model with a generalized energy function, where the interaction parameter is used to identify the spatial pattern. Auxiliary variable MCMC algorithms were employed to sample from the posterior distribution with an intractable normalizing constant. We demonstrated the strength of our method on both simulated and real data. Our simulation study showed that our method captured various spatial patterns with high accuracy; moreover, analysis of a seqFISH dataset and a STARmap dataset established that our proposed method is able to identify genes with novel and strong spatial patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Yang
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States
| | - Xi Jiang
- Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Kevin Wang Jin
- Program in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Sunyoung Shin
- Department of Mathematics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea
| | - Qiwei Li
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States
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36
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Yu S, Li WV. spVC for the detection and interpretation of spatial gene expression variation. Genome Biol 2024; 25:103. [PMID: 38641849 PMCID: PMC11027374 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-024-03245-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics technologies have opened new avenues for understanding gene expression heterogeneity in spatial contexts. However, existing methods for identifying spatially variable genes often focus solely on statistical significance, limiting their ability to capture continuous expression patterns and integrate spot-level covariates. To address these challenges, we introduce spVC, a statistical method based on a generalized Poisson model. spVC seamlessly integrates constant and spatially varying effects of covariates, facilitating comprehensive exploration of gene expression variability and enhancing interpretability. Simulation and real data applications confirm spVC's accuracy in these tasks, highlighting its versatility in spatial transcriptomics analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shan Yu
- Department of Statistics, Unversity of Virginia, Charlottesville, 22903, VA, USA.
| | - Wei Vivian Li
- Department of Statistics, University of California, Riverside, 92521, CA, USA.
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37
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Samadi Z, Askary A. Spatial motifs reveal patterns in cellular architecture of complex tissues. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.08.588586. [PMID: 38645046 PMCID: PMC11030378 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.08.588586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Spatial organization of cells is crucial to both proper physiological function of tissues and pathological conditions like cancer. Recent advances in spatial transcriptomics have enabled joint profiling of gene expression and spatial context of the cells. The outcome is an information rich map of the tissue where individual cells, or small regions, can be labeled based on their gene expression state. While spatial transcriptomics excels in its capacity to profile numerous genes within the same sample, most existing methods for analysis of spatial data only examine distribution of one or two labels at a time. These approaches overlook the potential for identifying higher-order associations between cell types - associations that can play a pivotal role in understanding development and function of complex tissues. In this context, we introduce a novel method for detecting motifs in spatial neighborhood graphs. Each motif represents a spatial arrangement of cell types that occurs in the tissue more frequently than expected by chance. To identify spatial motifs, we developed an algorithm for uniform sampling of paths from neighborhood graphs and combined it with a motif finding algorithm on graphs inspired by previous methods for finding motifs in DNA sequences. Using synthetic data with known ground truth, we show that our method can identify spatial motifs with high accuracy and sensitivity. Applied to spatial maps of mouse retinal bipolar cells and hypothalamic preoptic region, our method reveals previously unrecognized patterns in cell type arrangements. In some cases, cells within these spatial patterns differ in their gene expression from other cells of the same type, providing insights into the functional significance of the spatial motifs. These results suggest that our method can illuminate the substantial complexity of neural tissues, provide novel insight even in well studied models, and generate experimentally testable hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zainalabedin Samadi
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, USA
| | - Amjad Askary
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, 90095, CA, USA
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38
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Hashemi Gheinani A, Kim J, You S, Adam RM. Bioinformatics in urology - molecular characterization of pathophysiology and response to treatment. Nat Rev Urol 2024; 21:214-242. [PMID: 37604982 DOI: 10.1038/s41585-023-00805-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023]
Abstract
The application of bioinformatics has revolutionized the practice of medicine in the past 20 years. From early studies that uncovered subtypes of cancer to broad efforts spearheaded by the Cancer Genome Atlas initiative, the use of bioinformatics strategies to analyse high-dimensional data has provided unprecedented insights into the molecular basis of disease. In addition to the identification of disease subtypes - which enables risk stratification - informatics analysis has facilitated the identification of novel risk factors and drivers of disease, biomarkers of progression and treatment response, as well as possibilities for drug repurposing or repositioning; moreover, bioinformatics has guided research towards precision and personalized medicine. Implementation of specific computational approaches such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and molecular subtyping has yet to become widespread in urology clinical practice for reasons of cost, disruption of clinical workflow and need for prospective validation of informatics approaches in independent patient cohorts. Solving these challenges might accelerate routine integration of bioinformatics into clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali Hashemi Gheinani
- Department of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Urology, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland
- Department for BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jina Kim
- Department of Urology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Sungyong You
- Department of Urology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Computational Biomedicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Rosalyn M Adam
- Department of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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39
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Zhuang H, Ji Z. PreTSA: computationally efficient modeling of temporal and spatial gene expression patterns. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.20.585926. [PMID: 38585819 PMCID: PMC10996487 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.20.585926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Modeling temporal and spatial gene expression patterns in large-scale single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data is a computationally intensive task. We present PreTSA, a method that offers computational efficiency in modeling these patterns and is applicable to single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data comprising millions of cells. PreTSA consistently matches the results of state-of-the-art methods while significantly reducing computational time. PreTSA provides a unique solution for studying gene expression patterns in extremely large datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haotian Zhuang
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Zhicheng Ji
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
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40
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Guo X, Ning J, Chen Y, Liu G, Zhao L, Fan Y, Sun S. Recent advances in differential expression analysis for single-cell RNA-seq and spatially resolved transcriptomic studies. Brief Funct Genomics 2024; 23:95-109. [PMID: 37022699 DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/elad011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 04/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Differential expression (DE) analysis is a necessary step in the analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) data. Unlike traditional bulk RNA-seq, DE analysis for scRNA-seq or SRT data has unique characteristics that may contribute to the difficulty of detecting DE genes. However, the plethora of DE tools that work with various assumptions makes it difficult to choose an appropriate one. Furthermore, a comprehensive review on detecting DE genes for scRNA-seq data or SRT data from multi-condition, multi-sample experimental designs is lacking. To bridge such a gap, here, we first focus on the challenges of DE detection, then highlight potential opportunities that facilitate further progress in scRNA-seq or SRT analysis, and finally provide insights and guidance in selecting appropriate DE tools or developing new computational DE methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiya Guo
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Jin Ning
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Yuanze Chen
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Guoliang Liu
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Liyan Zhao
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Yue Fan
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
| | - Shiquan Sun
- School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
- Key Laboratory of Trace Elements and Endemic Diseases, Center for Single Cell Omics and Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi 710061, P.R. China
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41
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Li R, Chen X, Yang X. Navigating the landscapes of spatial transcriptomics: How computational methods guide the way. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. RNA 2024; 15:e1839. [PMID: 38527900 DOI: 10.1002/wrna.1839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 02/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Spatially resolved transcriptomics has been dramatically transforming biological and medical research in various fields. It enables transcriptome profiling at single-cell, multi-cellular, or sub-cellular resolution, while retaining the information of geometric localizations of cells in complex tissues. The coupling of cell spatial information and its molecular characteristics generates a novel multi-modal high-throughput data source, which poses new challenges for the development of analytical methods for data-mining. Spatial transcriptomic data are often highly complex, noisy, and biased, presenting a series of difficulties, many unresolved, for data analysis and generation of biological insights. In addition, to keep pace with the ever-evolving spatial transcriptomic experimental technologies, the existing analytical theories and tools need to be updated and reformed accordingly. In this review, we provide an overview and discussion of the current computational approaches for mining of spatial transcriptomics data. Future directions and perspectives of methodology design are proposed to stimulate further discussions and advances in new analytical models and algorithms. This article is categorized under: RNA Methods > RNA Analyses in Cells RNA Evolution and Genomics > Computational Analyses of RNA RNA Export and Localization > RNA Localization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Runze Li
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic & Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Xu Chen
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic & Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuerui Yang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Center for Synthetic & Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
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42
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Sun ED, Ma R, Navarro Negredo P, Brunet A, Zou J. TISSUE: uncertainty-calibrated prediction of single-cell spatial transcriptomics improves downstream analyses. Nat Methods 2024; 21:444-454. [PMID: 38347138 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02184-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Whole-transcriptome spatial profiling of genes at single-cell resolution remains a challenge. To address this limitation, spatial gene expression prediction methods have been developed to infer the spatial expression of unmeasured transcripts, but the quality of these predictions can vary greatly. Here we present Transcript Imputation with Spatial Single-cell Uncertainty Estimation (TISSUE) as a general framework for estimating uncertainty for spatial gene expression predictions and providing uncertainty-aware methods for downstream inference. Leveraging conformal inference, TISSUE provides well-calibrated prediction intervals for predicted expression values across 11 benchmark datasets. Moreover, it consistently reduces the false discovery rate for differential gene expression analysis, improves clustering and visualization of predicted spatial transcriptomics and improves the performance of supervised learning models trained on predicted gene expression profiles. Applying TISSUE to a MERFISH spatial transcriptomics dataset of the adult mouse subventricular zone, we identified subtypes within the neural stem cell lineage and developed subtype-specific regional classifiers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric D Sun
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Rong Ma
- Department of Statistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Anne Brunet
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - James Zou
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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43
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Xianyu Z, Correia C, Ung CY, Zhu S, Billadeau DD, Li H. The Rise of Hypothesis-Driven Artificial Intelligence in Oncology. Cancers (Basel) 2024; 16:822. [PMID: 38398213 PMCID: PMC10886811 DOI: 10.3390/cancers16040822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Cancer is a complex disease involving the deregulation of intricate cellular systems beyond genetic aberrations and, as such, requires sophisticated computational approaches and high-dimensional data for optimal interpretation. While conventional artificial intelligence (AI) models excel in many prediction tasks, they often lack interpretability and are blind to the scientific hypotheses generated by researchers to enable cancer discoveries. Here we propose that hypothesis-driven AI, a new emerging class of AI algorithm, is an innovative approach to uncovering the complex etiology of cancer from big omics data. This review exemplifies how hypothesis-driven AI is different from conventional AI by citing its application in various areas of oncology including tumor classification, patient stratification, cancer gene discovery, drug response prediction, and tumor spatial organization. Our aim is to stress the feasibility of incorporating domain knowledge and scientific hypotheses to craft the design of new AI algorithms. We showcase the power of hypothesis-driven AI in making novel cancer discoveries that can be overlooked by conventional AI methods. Since hypothesis-driven AI is still in its infancy, open questions such as how to better incorporate new knowledge and biological perspectives to ameliorate bias and improve interpretability in the design of AI algorithms still need to be addressed. In conclusion, hypothesis-driven AI holds great promise in the discovery of new mechanistic and functional insights that explain the complexity of cancer etiology and potentially chart a new roadmap to improve treatment regimens for individual patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zilin Xianyu
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
| | - Cristina Correia
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
| | - Choong Yong Ung
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
| | - Shizhen Zhu
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Daniel D. Billadeau
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
- Department of Immunology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Hu Li
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN 55905, USA; (Z.X.); (C.C.); (C.Y.U.); (S.Z.); (D.D.B.)
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44
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Seiringer P, Hillig C, Schäbitz A, Jargosch M, Pilz AC, Eyerich S, Szegedi A, Sochorová M, Gruber F, Zouboulis CC, Biedermann T, Menden MP, Eyerich K, Törőcsik D. Spatial transcriptomics reveals altered lipid metabolism and inflammation-related gene expression of sebaceous glands in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1334844. [PMID: 38433843 PMCID: PMC10904577 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1334844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Sebaceous glands drive acne, however, their role in other inflammatory skin diseases remains unclear. To shed light on their potential contribution to disease development, we investigated the spatial transcriptome of sebaceous glands in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients across lesional and non-lesional human skin samples. Both atopic dermatitis and psoriasis sebaceous glands expressed genes encoding key proteins for lipid metabolism and transport such as ALOX15B, APOC1, FABP7, FADS1/2, FASN, PPARG, and RARRES1. Also, inflammation-related SAA1 was identified as a common spatially variable gene. In atopic dermatitis, genes mainly related to lipid metabolism (e.g. ACAD8, FADS6, or EBP) as well as disease-specific genes, i.e., Th2 inflammation-related lipid-regulating HSD3B1 were differentially expressed. On the contrary, in psoriasis, more inflammation-related spatially variable genes (e.g. SERPINF1, FKBP5, IFIT1/3, DDX58) were identified. Other psoriasis-specific enriched pathways included lipid metabolism (e.g. ACOT4, S1PR3), keratinization (e.g. LCE5A, KRT5/7/16), neutrophil degranulation, and antimicrobial peptides (e.g. LTF, DEFB4A, S100A7-9). In conclusion, our results show that sebaceous glands contribute to skin homeostasis with a cell type-specific lipid metabolism, which is influenced by the inflammatory microenvironment. These findings further support that sebaceous glands are not bystanders in inflammatory skin diseases, but can actively and differentially modulate inflammation in a disease-specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Seiringer
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Division of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine Solna, and Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christina Hillig
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany
| | - Alexander Schäbitz
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Division of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine Solna, and Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Manja Jargosch
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Zentrum für Allergie und Umwelt (ZAUM) - Center of Allergy and Environment, Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Anna Caroline Pilz
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Stefanie Eyerich
- Zentrum für Allergie und Umwelt (ZAUM) - Center of Allergy and Environment, Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany
| | - Andrea Szegedi
- Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN DE), Allergology Research Group, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Michaela Sochorová
- Division for Biology and Pathobiology of the Skin, Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Skin Multimodal Analytical Imaging of Aging and Senescence (SKINMAGINE), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Florian Gruber
- Division for Biology and Pathobiology of the Skin, Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Christian Doppler Laboratory for Skin Multimodal Analytical Imaging of Aging and Senescence (SKINMAGINE), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christos C Zouboulis
- Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology and Immunology, Staedtisches Klinikum Dessau, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane and Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, Dessau, Germany
| | - Tilo Biedermann
- Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Michael P Menden
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Centre for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany
- Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Kilian Eyerich
- Division of Dermatology and Venereology, Department of Medicine Solna, and Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Daniel Törőcsik
- Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
- Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN DE), Allergology Research Group, Debrecen, Hungary
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Chang Y, Liu J, Jiang Y, Ma A, Yeo YY, Guo Q, McNutt M, Krull J, Rodig SJ, Barouch DH, Nolan G, Xu D, Jiang S, Li Z, Liu B, Ma Q. Graph Fourier transform for spatial omics representation and analyses of complex organs. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-3952048. [PMID: 38410424 PMCID: PMC10896409 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3952048/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/28/2024]
Abstract
Spatial omics technologies are capable of deciphering detailed components of complex organs or tissue in cellular and subcellular resolution. A robust, interpretable, and unbiased representation method for spatial omics is necessary to illuminate novel investigations into biological functions, whereas a mathematical theory deficiency still exists. We present SpaGFT (Spatial Graph Fourier Transform), which provides a unique analytical feature representation of spatial omics data and elucidates molecular signatures linked to critical biological processes within tissues and cells. It outperformed existing tools in spatially variable gene prediction and gene expression imputation across human/mouse Visium data. Integrating SpaGFT representation into existing machine learning frameworks can enhance up to 40% accuracy of spatial domain identification, cell type annotation, cell-to-spot alignment, and subcellular hallmark inference. SpaGFT identified immunological regions for B cell maturation in human lymph node Visium data, characterized secondary follicle variations from in-house human tonsil CODEX data, and detected extremely rare subcellular organelles such as Cajal body and Set1/COMPASS. This new method lays the groundwork for a new theoretical model in explainable AI, advancing our understanding of tissue organization and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuzhou Chang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Jixin Liu
- School of Mathematics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Yi Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Anjun Ma
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Yao Yu Yeo
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Qi Guo
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Megan McNutt
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Jordan Krull
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Scott J. Rodig
- Department of Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115 USA
- Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Dan H. Barouch
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- William Bosworth Castle Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard
| | - Garry Nolan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Dong Xu
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Sizun Jiang
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Pathology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115 USA
- Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Zihai Li
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Bingqiang Liu
- School of Mathematics, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China
| | - Qin Ma
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology, The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
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Massoni-Badosa R, Aguilar-Fernández S, Nieto JC, Soler-Vila P, Elosua-Bayes M, Marchese D, Kulis M, Vilas-Zornoza A, Bühler MM, Rashmi S, Alsinet C, Caratù G, Moutinho C, Ruiz S, Lorden P, Lunazzi G, Colomer D, Frigola G, Blevins W, Romero-Rivero L, Jiménez-Martínez V, Vidal A, Mateos-Jaimez J, Maiques-Diaz A, Ovejero S, Moreaux J, Palomino S, Gomez-Cabrero D, Agirre X, Weniger MA, King HW, Garner LC, Marini F, Cervera-Paz FJ, Baptista PM, Vilaseca I, Rosales C, Ruiz-Gaspà S, Talks B, Sidhpura K, Pascual-Reguant A, Hauser AE, Haniffa M, Prosper F, Küppers R, Gut IG, Campo E, Martin-Subero JI, Heyn H. An atlas of cells in the human tonsil. Immunity 2024; 57:379-399.e18. [PMID: 38301653 PMCID: PMC10869140 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2024.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
Palatine tonsils are secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs) representing the first line of immunological defense against inhaled or ingested pathogens. We generated an atlas of the human tonsil composed of >556,000 cells profiled across five different data modalities, including single-cell transcriptome, epigenome, proteome, and immune repertoire sequencing, as well as spatial transcriptomics. This census identified 121 cell types and states, defined developmental trajectories, and enabled an understanding of the functional units of the tonsil. Exemplarily, we stratified myeloid slan-like subtypes, established a BCL6 enhancer as locally active in follicle-associated T and B cells, and identified SIX5 as putative transcriptional regulator of plasma cell maturation. Analyses of a validation cohort confirmed the presence, annotation, and markers of tonsillar cell types and provided evidence of age-related compositional shifts. We demonstrate the value of this resource by annotating cells from B cell-derived mantle cell lymphomas, linking transcriptional heterogeneity to normal B cell differentiation states of the human tonsil.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Juan C Nieto
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Paula Soler-Vila
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | - Marta Kulis
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Amaia Vilas-Zornoza
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), University of Navarra, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Marco Matteo Bühler
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Hematopathology Section, Pathology Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sonal Rashmi
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Clara Alsinet
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ginevra Caratù
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Catia Moutinho
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Ruiz
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Patricia Lorden
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Giulia Lunazzi
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dolors Colomer
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain; Hematopathology Section, Pathology Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Fonaments Clínics, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gerard Frigola
- Hematopathology Section, Pathology Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Will Blevins
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucia Romero-Rivero
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Anna Vidal
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Judith Mateos-Jaimez
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alba Maiques-Diaz
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Ovejero
- Department of Biological Hematology, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France; Institute of Human Genetics, UMR 9002 CNRS-UM, Montpellier, France
| | - Jérôme Moreaux
- Department of Biological Hematology, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France; Institute of Human Genetics, UMR 9002 CNRS-UM, Montpellier, France; Department of Clinical Hematology, CHU Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Sara Palomino
- Translational Bioinformatics Unit (TransBio), Navarrabiomed, Navarra Health Department (CHN), Public University of Navarra (UPNA), Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - David Gomez-Cabrero
- Translational Bioinformatics Unit (TransBio), Navarrabiomed, Navarra Health Department (CHN), Public University of Navarra (UPNA), Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain; Bioscience Program, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Xabier Agirre
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), University of Navarra, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Marc A Weniger
- Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research), Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Hamish W King
- Epigenetics and Development Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Parkville, Australia
| | - Lucy C Garner
- Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Federico Marini
- Institute of Medical Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics (IMBEI), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany; Center for Thrombosis and Hemostasis (CTH), University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Peter M Baptista
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Isabel Vilaseca
- Otorhinolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery Department, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cecilia Rosales
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Silvia Ruiz-Gaspà
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Benjamin Talks
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK; Department of Otolaryngology, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Keval Sidhpura
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Anna Pascual-Reguant
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Immune Dynamics, Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum (DRFZ), Berlin, Germany
| | - Anja E Hauser
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Immune Dynamics, Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum (DRFZ), Berlin, Germany
| | - Muzlifah Haniffa
- Biosciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK; Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK; Department of Dermatology and NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Felipe Prosper
- Hemato-Oncology Program, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), University of Navarra, IDISNA, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Hematología, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Ralf Küppers
- Institute of Cell Biology (Cancer Research), Medical Faculty, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Ivo Glynne Gut
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elias Campo
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Cáncer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain; Hematopathology Section, Pathology Department, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Fonaments Clínics, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Ignacio Martin-Subero
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Spain; Departament de Fonaments Clínics, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Holger Heyn
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG), Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
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Cai P, Robinson MD, Tiberi S. DESpace: spatially variable gene detection via differential expression testing of spatial clusters. Bioinformatics 2024; 40:btae027. [PMID: 38243704 PMCID: PMC10868334 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btae027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 12/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION Spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) enables scientists to investigate spatial context of mRNA abundance, including identifying spatially variable genes (SVGs), i.e. genes whose expression varies across the tissue. Although several methods have been proposed for this task, native SVG tools cannot jointly model biological replicates, or identify the key areas of the tissue affected by spatial variability. RESULTS Here, we introduce DESpace, a framework, based on an original application of existing methods, to discover SVGs. In particular, our approach inputs all types of SRT data, summarizes spatial information via spatial clusters, and identifies spatially variable genes by performing differential gene expression testing between clusters. Furthermore, our framework can identify (and test) the main cluster of the tissue affected by spatial variability; this allows scientists to investigate spatial expression changes in specific areas of interest. Additionally, DESpace enables joint modeling of multiple samples (i.e. biological replicates); compared to inference based on individual samples, this approach increases statistical power, and targets SVGs with consistent spatial patterns across replicates. Overall, in our benchmarks, DESpace displays good true positive rates, controls for false positive and false discovery rates, and is computationally efficient. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION DESpace is freely distributed as a Bioconductor R package at https://bioconductor.org/packages/DESpace.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peiying Cai
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
| | - Mark D Robinson
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
| | - Simone Tiberi
- Department of Molecular Life Sciences and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
- Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna 40126, Italy
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Mihai IS, Chafle S, Henriksson J. Representing and extracting knowledge from single-cell data. Biophys Rev 2024; 16:29-56. [PMID: 38495441 PMCID: PMC10937862 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-023-01091-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Single-cell analysis is currently one of the most high-resolution techniques to study biology. The large complex datasets that have been generated have spurred numerous developments in computational biology, in particular the use of advanced statistics and machine learning. This review attempts to explain the deeper theoretical concepts that underpin current state-of-the-art analysis methods. Single-cell analysis is covered from cell, through instruments, to current and upcoming models. The aim of this review is to spread concepts which are not yet in common use, especially from topology and generative processes, and how new statistical models can be developed to capture more of biology. This opens epistemological questions regarding our ontology and models, and some pointers will be given to how natural language processing (NLP) may help overcome our cognitive limitations for understanding single-cell data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ionut Sebastian Mihai
- The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
- Industrial Doctoral School, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Sarang Chafle
- The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Johan Henriksson
- The Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå, Sweden
- Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
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49
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Yang S, Zhou X. SRT-Server: powering the analysis of spatial transcriptomic data. Genome Med 2024; 16:18. [PMID: 38279156 PMCID: PMC10811909 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-024-01288-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spatial resolved transcriptomics (SRT) encompasses a rapidly developing set of technologies that enable the measurement of gene expression in tissue while retaining spatial localization information. SRT technologies and the enabled SRT studies have provided unprecedent insights into the structural and functional underpinnings of complex tissues. As SRT technologies have advanced and an increasing number of SRT studies have emerged, numerous sophisticated statistical and computational methods have been developed to facilitate the analysis and interpretation of SRT data. However, despite the growing popularity of SRT studies and the widespread availability of SRT analysis methods, analysis of large-scale and complex SRT datasets remains challenging and not easily accessible to researchers with limited statistical and computational backgrounds. RESULTS Here, we present SRT-Server, the first webserver designed to carry out comprehensive SRT analyses for a wide variety of SRT technologies while requiring minimal prior computational knowledge. Implemented with cutting-edge web development technologies, SRT-Server is user-friendly and features multiple analytic modules that can perform a range of SRT analyses. With a flowchart-style interface, these different analytic modules on the SRT-Server can be dragged into the main panel and connected to each other to create custom analytic pipelines. SRT-Server then automatically executes the desired analyses, generates corresponding figures, and outputs results-all without requiring prior programming knowledge. We demonstrate the advantages of SRT-Server through three case studies utilizing SRT data collected from two common platforms, highlighting its versatility and values to researchers with varying analytic expertise. CONCLUSIONS Overall, SRT-Server presents a user-friendly, efficient, effective, secure, and expandable solution for SRT data analysis, opening new doors for researchers in the field. SRT-Server is freely available at https://spatialtranscriptomicsanalysis.com/ .
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Yang
- Department of Biostatistics, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211166, China.
| | - Xiang Zhou
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
- Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
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50
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Yuan M, Wan H, Wang Z, Guo Q, Deng M. SPANN: annotating single-cell resolution spatial transcriptome data with scRNA-seq data. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbad533. [PMID: 38279647 PMCID: PMC10818138 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION The rapid development of spatial transcriptome technologies has enabled researchers to acquire single-cell-level spatial data at an affordable price. However, computational analysis tools, such as annotation tools, tailored for these data are still lacking. Recently, many computational frameworks have emerged to integrate single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomics datasets. While some frameworks can utilize well-annotated scRNA-seq data to annotate spatial expression patterns, they overlook critical aspects. First, existing tools do not explicitly consider cell type mapping when aligning the two modalities. Second, current frameworks lack the capability to detect novel cells, which remains a key interest for biologists. RESULTS To address these problems, we propose an annotation method for spatial transcriptome data called SPANN. The main tasks of SPANN are to transfer cell-type labels from well-annotated scRNA-seq data to newly generated single-cell resolution spatial transcriptome data and discover novel cells from spatial data. The major innovations of SPANN come from two aspects: SPANN automatically detects novel cells from unseen cell types while maintaining high annotation accuracy over known cell types. SPANN finds a mapping between spatial transcriptome samples and RNA data prototypes and thus conducts cell-type-level alignment. Comprehensive experiments using datasets from various spatial platforms demonstrate SPANN's capabilities in annotating known cell types and discovering novel cell states within complex tissue contexts. AVAILABILITY The source code of SPANN can be accessed at https://github.com/ddb-qiwang/SPANN-torch. CONTACT dengmh@math.pku.edu.cn.
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Affiliation(s)
- Musu Yuan
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
| | - Hui Wan
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
| | - Zihao Wang
- Biomedical Interdisciplinary Research Center, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
| | - Qirui Guo
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
| | - Minghua Deng
- Center for Quantitative Biology, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
- Center for Statistical Science, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
- Biomedical Interdisciplinary Research Center, Peking University, Yiheyuan Road, 100871, Beijing, China
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