1 of 25

Module 07 - An introduction to spatial transcriptomics approaches

Mariana Boroni

2 of 25

How to use the power of RNA-sequencing while preserving the spatial information?

Image credits: Bo Xia �https://twitter.com/BoXia7

3 of 25

Growth of the current era

4 of 25

Overview of spatial transcriptomics

5 of 25

Spatial transcriptomics methods

pixel-Seq

GeoMx

Visium

MerFish

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037022003786

6 of 25

Spatial transcriptomics methods

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037022003786

7 of 25

Spatial transcriptomics methods produce data at different spatial resolutions

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037022003786

8 of 25

Overview of spatial transcriptomics preprocessing and downstream analysis steps

9 of 25

Figure from poster ‘Anatomical and Transcriptional Characterization of Breast Tumor Heterogeneity

Using Spatial RNA Sequencing’, Ziraldo et al., 2020. 10X Genomics Inc.

Spatial gene expression workflow

10 of 25

© 2020 10x Genomics, Inc.

LIT000060 Rev C Inside Visium Spatial Technology Brochure

Stepwise library construction

11 of 25

Visium Spatial Gene Expression significantly increases spatial resolution and sensitivity

Figure from poster ‘Anatomical and Transcriptional Characterization of Breast Tumor Heterogeneity

Using Spatial RNA Sequencing’, Ziraldo et al., 2020. 10X Genomics Inc.

12 of 25

Visium Spatial Gene Expression

13 of 25

Increases spatial resolution and sensitivity

Figure from poster ‘Anatomical and Transcriptional Characterization of Breast Tumor Heterogeneity

Using Spatial RNA Sequencing’, Ziraldo et al., 2020. 10X Genomics Inc.

14 of 25

Bioinformatic Analysis

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41596-018-0045-2

15 of 25

Single-cell RNA-Seq analysis

Heumos, L., Schaar, A.C., Lance, C. et al. Best practices for single-cell analysis across modalities. Nat Rev Genet 24, 550–572 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-023-00586-w

16 of 25

Single-cell RNA-Seq analysis

Heumos, L., Schaar, A.C., Lance, C. et al. Best practices for single-cell analysis across modalities. Nat Rev Genet 24, 550–572 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-023-00586-w

17 of 25

Figure: Patrik L. Ståhl et al. Science 2016;353:78-82

Principal component analysis of tissue domains

18 of 25

Figure: Patrik L. Ståhl et al. Science 2016;353:78-82

Aligned the tissue image with the features of the array

19 of 25

Overview of spatial transcriptomics preprocessing and downstream analysis steps

20 of 25

Deconvolution methods – unmixing the smoothie

How many strawberries, kiwis, pineapples and oranges went into the salad?

21 of 25

Deconvolution of BULK RNA-Seq

Finotello, F., Trajanoski, Z. Quantifying tumor-infiltrating immune cells from transcriptomics data. Cancer Immunol Immunother 67, 1031–1040 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00262-018-2150-z

22 of 25

Deconvolution approach with CIBERSORT

23 of 25

Deconvolution approach with CIBERSORT

24 of 25

Approach : deconvolution of bulk RNA-Seq

  • marker-gene-based approaches (M)
  • deconvolution-based approaches (D)

Sturm, G. et al. Comprehensive evaluation of transcriptome-based cell-type quantification methods for immuno-oncology, Bioinformatics, Volume 35, Issue 14, July 2019, Pages i436–i445, https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btz363

25 of 25