| 1. |
- Andrusivova, Zaneta
(författare)
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Development and application of spatial transcriptomics methods
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Transcriptomics is one of the pivotal fields in molecular biology, enabling comprehensive analysis of gene expression patterns. Recent advancements in the biotechnology field have transformed the transcriptomics research, providing insights into the complexity of cellular processes in a greater detail. However, conventional transcriptomics methods such as bulk RNA sequencing or single-cell RNA sequencing rely on tissue dissociation and therefore lack spatial information, which limits our understanding of gene expression patterns within the tissue structures. The development of spatially resolved transcriptomics methods has revolutionized the study of transcriptomes, enabling analysis of gene expression patterns in the spatial context. The wide range of available transcriptomics technologies offer various levels of resolution and throughput, and combination of multiple techniques can be beneficial for studying biological systems and gain deeper understanding of their molecular processes. In this thesis, particular emphasis is given to the Visium spatial gene expression technology, which has gain widespread popularity in the research community over the recent years. In the article I, we expand the application of the Visium platform to fresh-frozen samples of lower RNA quality or otherwise challenging characteristics. To achieve this, we introduce specific modifications to the commercially available protocol and test its effectiveness across different tissue types of varying RNA quality, including pediatric brain tumors, human small intestine, and mouse bone and cartilage. By conducting comparative analysis, we demonstrate that the new protocol outperforms the standard Visium protocol when working with samples of moderate and lower RNA quality.Article II introduces a novel method that enhances the resolution of the Visium gene expression method through tissue expansion. We showcase the implementation of this new protocol on two regions of mouse brain, olfactory bulb and hippocampus. We demonstrate the ability of this approach to study smaller tissue structures that were previously beyond the resolution capabilities of the Visium platform.In the article III and IV, we demonstrate the practical application of the Visium approach and its combination with other methodologies in the field of developmental biology. We show how utilizing spatial transcriptomics methods help elucidate the spatial organization of cell types and cell states during organogenesis in the developing human spinal cord (article III) and developing lung tissue (article IV). By deploying single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial methods, we described the spatiotemporal gene expression profiles of various cell types as well as shared and unique events occurring during the spinal cord development in humans and rodents (article III). Applying this multimodal approach to lung tissue (article IV) allowed us to characterize novel cell states emerging during lung development and provided valuable insights into the structural organization of developing lungs. These studies highlight the findings and observations that can be gained by combining spatially resolved transcriptomics with other laboratory techniques to shed light on the spatial dynamics of cellular processes during organ development.
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| 2. |
- Asp, Michaela, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial Isoform Profiling within Individual Tissue Sections
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Spatial Transcriptomics has been shown to be a persuasive RNA sequencingtechnology for analyzing cellular heterogeneity within tissue sections. Thetechnology efficiently captures and barcodes 3’ tags of all polyadenylatedtranscripts from a tissue section, and thus provides a powerful platform whenperforming quantitative spatial gene expression studies. However, the currentprotocol does not recover the full-length information of transcripts, andconsequently lack information regarding alternative splice variants. Here, weintroduce a novel protocol for spatial isoform profiling, using SpatialTranscriptomics barcoded arrays.
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| 3. |
- Braun, Emelie, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive cell atlas of the first-trimester developing human brain
- 2023
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Ingår i: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 382:6667, s. 172-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The adult human brain comprises more than a thousand distinct neuronal and glial cell types, a diversity that emerges during early brain development. To reveal the precise sequence of events during early brain development, we used single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics and uncovered cell states and trajectories in human brains at 5 to 14 postconceptional weeks (pcw). We identified 12 major classes that are organized as ~600 distinct cell states, which map to precise spatial anatomical domains at 5 pcw. We described detailed differentiation trajectories of the human forebrain and midbrain and found a large number of region-specific glioblasts that mature into distinct pre-astrocytes and pre–oligodendrocyte precursor cells. Our findings reveal the establishment of cell types during the first trimester of human brain development.
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| 4. |
- Fan, Yuhang, et al.
(författare)
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Expansion spatial transcriptomics
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Methods. - : Springer Nature. - 1548-7091 .- 1548-7105. ; 20:8, s. 1179-1182
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Capture array-based spatial transcriptomics methods have been widely used to resolve gene expression in tissues; however, their spatial resolution is limited by the density of the array. Here we present expansion spatial transcriptomics to overcome this limitation by clearing and expanding tissue prior to capturing the entire polyadenylated transcriptome with an enhanced protocol. This approach enables us to achieve higher spatial resolution while retaining high library quality, which we demonstrate using mouse brain samples.
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| 5. |
- Fernandez Navarro, Jose, 1982-, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial Transcriptomics characterization of Alzheimer’s disease in the adult mouse brain
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurological disease associated with progressive loss of mental skills, cognitive and physical functions. Here, our goal was to uncover novel and known molecular targets in the structured layers of the hippocampus and olfactory bulbs that may contribute to hippocampal synaptic dysfunction and smelling defects in AD mice. Spatial Transcriptomics was used to identify high confidence genes that were differentially regulated in AD mice relative to controls. A discussion of how these genes may contribute to AD pathology is provided.
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| 6. |
- Fernandez Navarro, Jose, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals Genes Associated with Dysregulated Mitochondrial Functions and Stress Signaling in Alzheimer Disease
- 2020
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Ingår i: iScience. - : Elsevier Inc.. - 2589-0042. ; 23:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cellular Neuroscience; Omics; Transcriptomics Alzheimer disease (AD) is a devastating neurological disease associated with progressive loss of mental skills and cognitive and physical functions whose etiology is not completely understood. Here, our goal was to simultaneously uncover novel and known molecular targets in the structured layers of the hippocampus and olfactory bulbs that may contribute to early hippocampal synaptic deficits and olfactory dysfunction in AD mice. Spatially resolved transcriptomics was used to identify high-confidence genes that were differentially regulated in AD mice relative to controls. A diverse set of genes that modulate stress responses and transcription were predominant in both hippocampi and olfactory bulbs. Notably, we identify Bok, implicated in mitochondrial physiology and cell death, as a spatially downregulated gene in the hippocampus of mouse and human AD brains. In summary, we provide a rich resource of spatially differentially expressed genes, which may contribute to understanding AD pathology.
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| 7. |
- Firsova, Alexandra, et al.
(författare)
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Topographic atlas of cell states identifies regional gene expression in the adult human lung
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Single cell mRNA sequencing of the whole organ has become a popular technique to reveal rare types and subtypes of previously characterized cells as well as to distinguish and characterize gene expression of previously unknown cell types. Unsupervised clustering can reveal tens or even hundreds of variable genes that characterize cell types. Variation in gene expression is often observed within one cell type, and sometimes cannot be biologically explained without mapping of mRNA on tissue. In this study we aim to (i) map the majority of cell types of human lung, (ii) describe variability in their gene expression and (iii) relate this gene expression to cellular location and neighborhoods. Using three different spatial transcriptomics approaches, we mapped epithelial cell states of airways and submucosal gland, and defined cell type-unrelated gene expression variability along proximo-distal axis, including potential regulators and co-regulators of such cell states in the mesenchymal and immune cell niches. In addition, we mapped rare cell types, such as subtypes of neuroendocrine cells, ionocytes and tuft (brush) cells, revealing tracheal preference for ionocytes, and distal airways for GHRL-positive neuroendocrine cells. Finally, we used the created map as a reference for the diseased tissue from patients with stage II COPD and revealed perturbed cell states and COPD-specific imbalance of cell types, affecting immune and AT0 clusters.
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| 8. |
- Larsson, Ludvig, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial transcriptomics
- 2022
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Ingår i: Cell. - : Elsevier BV. - 0092-8674 .- 1097-4172. ; 185:15, s. 2840-2840.e1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Spatially resolved transcriptomics methodologies using RNA sequencing principles have and will continue to contribute to decode the molecular landscape of tissues. Linking quantitative sequencing data with tissue morphology empowers profiling of cellular morphology and transcription over time and space in health and disease. To view this SnapShot, open or download the PDF.
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| 9. |
- Lázár, Enikő, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial Dynamics of the Developing Human Heart
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Heart development relies on a topologically defined interplay between a diverse array of cardiac cells. We finely curated spatial and single-cell measurements with subcellular imaging-based transcriptomics validation to explore spatial dynamics during early human cardiogenesis. Analyzing almost 80,000 individual cells and 70,000 spatially barcoded tissue regions between the 5.5th and 14th postconceptional weeks, we identified 31 coarse- and 72 fine-grained cell states and mapped them to highly resolved cardiac cellular niches. We provide novel insight into the development of the cardiac pacemaker-conduction system, heart valves, and atrial septum, and decipher heterogeneity of the hitherto elusive cardiac fibroblast population. Furthermore, we describe the formation of cardiac autonomic innervation and present the first spatial account of chromaffin cells in the fetal human heart. In summary, our study delineates the cellular and molecular landscape of the developing heart’s architecture, offering links to genetic causes of heart disease.
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| 10. |
- Li, Xiaofei, et al.
(författare)
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Profiling spatiotemporal gene expression of the developing human spinal cord and implications for ependymoma origin
- 2023
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Ingår i: Nature Neuroscience. - : Springer Nature. - 1097-6256 .- 1546-1726. ; 26:5, s. 891-901
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The authors created a comprehensive developmental cell atlas for spatiotemporal gene expression of the human spinal cord, revealed species-specific regulation during development and used the atlas to infer novel markers for pediatric ependymomas. The spatiotemporal regulation of cell fate specification in the human developing spinal cord remains largely unknown. In this study, by performing integrated analysis of single-cell and spatial multi-omics data, we used 16 prenatal human samples to create a comprehensive developmental cell atlas of the spinal cord during post-conceptional weeks 5-12. This revealed how the cell fate commitment of neural progenitor cells and their spatial positioning are spatiotemporally regulated by specific gene sets. We identified unique events in human spinal cord development relative to rodents, including earlier quiescence of active neural stem cells, differential regulation of cell differentiation and distinct spatiotemporal genetic regulation of cell fate choices. In addition, by integrating our atlas with pediatric ependymomas data, we identified specific molecular signatures and lineage-specific genes of cancer stem cells during progression. Thus, we delineate spatiotemporal genetic regulation of human spinal cord development and leverage these data to gain disease insight.
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