Uncovering an Organ's Molecular Architecture at Single-Cell Resolution by Spatially Resolved Transcriptomics

Abstract

Revealing fine-scale cellular heterogeneity among spatial context and the functional and structural foundations of tissue architecture is fundamental within biological research and pharmacology. Unlike traditional approaches involving single molecules or bulk omics, cutting-edge, spatially resolved transcriptomics techniques offer near-single-cell or even subcellular resolution within tissues. Massive information across higher dimensions along with position-coordinating labels can better map the whole 3D transcriptional landscape of tissues. In this review, we focus on developments and strategies in spatially resolved transcriptomics, compare the cell and gene throughput and spatial resolution in detail for existing methods, and highlight the enormous potential in biomedical research.

Keywords: fluorescence in situ hybridization; in situ sequencing; single-cell RNA-seq; spatial reconstruction; spatial transcriptomics; spatially resolved transcriptomics.