A unified approach to spatial domain detection and cell-type deconvolution in spot-based spatial transcriptomics

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Koo, Hyun Jung, Molstad, Aaron J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Koo, Hyun Jung
Molstad, Aaron J.
author_facet Koo, Hyun Jung
Molstad, Aaron J.
contents Popular technologies for generating spatially resolved transcriptomic data measure gene expression at the resolution of a "spot", i.e., a small tissue region 55 microns in diameter. Each spot can contain many cells of different types. In typical analyses, researchers are interested in using these data to identify and profile discrete spatial domains in the tissue. In this paper, we propose a new method, DUET, that simultaneously identifies discrete spatial domains and estimates each spot's cell-type proportion. This allows the identified spatial domains to be characterized in terms of the cell type proportions, which affords interpretability and biological insight. DUET utilizes a constrained version of model-based convex clustering, and as such, can accommodate Poisson, negative binomial, normal, and other types of expression data. Through simulation studies and multiple applications, we show that DUET can achieve better clustering and deconvolution performance than existing methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_06204
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A unified approach to spatial domain detection and cell-type deconvolution in spot-based spatial transcriptomics
Koo, Hyun Jung
Molstad, Aaron J.
Applications
Methodology
Popular technologies for generating spatially resolved transcriptomic data measure gene expression at the resolution of a "spot", i.e., a small tissue region 55 microns in diameter. Each spot can contain many cells of different types. In typical analyses, researchers are interested in using these data to identify and profile discrete spatial domains in the tissue. In this paper, we propose a new method, DUET, that simultaneously identifies discrete spatial domains and estimates each spot's cell-type proportion. This allows the identified spatial domains to be characterized in terms of the cell type proportions, which affords interpretability and biological insight. DUET utilizes a constrained version of model-based convex clustering, and as such, can accommodate Poisson, negative binomial, normal, and other types of expression data. Through simulation studies and multiple applications, we show that DUET can achieve better clustering and deconvolution performance than existing methods.
title A unified approach to spatial domain detection and cell-type deconvolution in spot-based spatial transcriptomics
topic Applications
Methodology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06204