SMQVP: A Web Application for Spatial Metabolomics Quality Visualization and Processing

Spatial metabolomics is a powerful technique that enables spatially resolved mapping of metabolite distributions at the tissue and cellular levels, providing valuable insights into biological processes. However, challenges in data quality control and preprocessing remain significant bottlenecks, critically impacting the reliability of downstream analyses and the robustness of findings.

To address these limitations, we present Spatial Metabolomics data Quality Visualization and Processing (SMQVP v1.0), a novel software with a user-friendly graphical interface designed for the systematic quality assessment and preprocessing of spatial metabolomics data. SMQVP incorporates eight comprehensive quality visualization and evaluation modules, including background consistency assessments, noise ion filtering, intensity distribution analyses, and the identification of isotopic and adduct ions.

We demonstrated SMQVP's effectiveness using AFADESI-based mouse brain data, showing that the tool successfully identified and removed noise signals. This rigorous preprocessing resulted in improved clustering outcomes that more accurately reflected the underlying tissue morphology compared with analyses performed on unprocessed data.

SMQVP is the first systematic approach focused on quality visualization, specifically for spatial metabolomics. It offers researchers an accessible and comprehensive solution for enhancing data integrity and mitigating the impact of technical noise, thereby improving the reliability and robustness of their spatial metabolomics findings.