Improving Spatial Transcriptomics with Membrane-Based Boundary Definition and Enhanced Single-Cell Resolution (Small Methods 5/2025)

Abstract

Single-Cell Resolution

In article number 2401056, Yanmei Liu, Ji-Feng Fei, and co-workers introduce a cell membrane genetic-labeling model to precisely define cell boundaries in sequencing-based spatial transcriptomics. This work demonstrates that cell segmentation based on cell membranes more accurately represents the true single cells in actual tissues and organs compared to nucleus or algorithmic-based methods, particularly in the case of irregular and multinucleated cells, thereby improving single-cell resolution and enhancing the analytical power of spatial transcriptomics.