Communication between cells is crucial for coordinated cellular functions in multicellular organisms. We present an optimal transport theory-based tool to infer cell–cell communication networks, spatial signaling directions and downstream targets in multicellular systems from spatial gene expression data.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Armingol, E., Officer, A., Harismendy, O. & Lewis, N. E. Deciphering cell–cell interactions and communication from gene expression. Nat. Rev. Genet. 22, 71–88 (2021). A review article on cell–cell communication analysis from gene expression data.
Moses, L. & Pachter, L. Museum of spatial transcriptomics. Nat. Methods 19, 534–546 (2022). A review article on spatial transcriptomics technologies and analysis methods.
Peyré, G. & Cuturi, M. Computational optimal transport: with applications to data science. In Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning 11, 355–607 (2019). A book on optimal transport and its applications.
Cang, Z., Nie, Q. & Zhao, Y. Supervised optimal transport. SIAM J. Appl. Math. 82, 1851–1877 (2022). A study of the mathematical details of the optimal transport method motivated by our study.
Jin, S. et al. Inference and analysis of cell–cell communication using CellChat. Nat. Commun. 12, 1088 (2021). This paper presents a widely used tool to infer cell–cell communication from non-spatial single-cell transcriptomics data.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Cang, Z. et al. Screening cell–cell communication in spatial transcriptomics via collective optimal transport. Nat. Methods https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01728-4 (2023).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
A mathematical method and software for spatially mapping intercellular communication. Nat Methods 20, 185–186 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01729-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01729-3