【文献速递】综述-组织探索的下一代工具-空间转录组

Asp, M., et al. (2020). "Spatially Resolved Transcriptomes-Next Generation Tools for Tissue Exploration." Bioessays 42(10): e1900221.
Recent advances in spatially resolved transcriptomics have greatly expanded the knowledge of complex multicellular biological systems. The field has quickly expanded in recent years, and several new technologies have been developed that all aim to combine gene expression data with spatial information. The vast array of methodologies displays fundamental differences in their approach to obtain this information, and thus, demonstrate method-specific advantages and shortcomings. While the field is moving forward at a rapid pace, there are still multiple challenges presented to be addressed, including sensitivity, labor extensiveness, tissue-type dependence, and limited capacity to obtain detailed single-cell information. No single method can currently address all these key parameters. In this review, available spatial transcriptomics methods are described and their applications as well as their strengths and weaknesses are discussed. Future developments are explored and where the field is heading to is deliberated upon.

最近在空间解析转录组学方面的进展极大地扩展了复杂多细胞生物系统的知识。这一领域近年来迅速发展，一些旨在将基因表达数据与空间信息结合起来的新技术已经被开发出来。各种方法在获取这些信息的方法上显示出根本的不同，因此也显示出具体方法的优点和缺点。虽然该领域正在快速发展，但仍有许多挑战有待解决，包括灵敏度、工作量的扩展性、组织类型的依赖性以及获取单细胞详细信息的有限能力。目前没有一种方法可以处理所有这些关键参数。在这篇综述中，介绍了现有的空间转录组方法，并讨论了它们的应用和优缺点。对未来的发展进行了探索，并对该领域的发展方向进行了思考。