Bridging cell morphological behaviors and molecular dynamics in multi-modal spatial omics with MorphLink

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Multi-modal spatial omics data offer insights into cellular behavior in diseases.
• Existing analytical methods often overlook the interplay between cell morphology and molecular dynamics.
• A gap exists in systematically analyzing morphological-molecular relationships in spatial omics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce MorphLink, a novel framework for identifying disease-related morphological-molecular interplays.
• To provide a method for linking interpretable morphological features with molecular measurements in spatial omics.
• To enhance the understanding of cellular behavior heterogeneity and its role in disease.

Main Methods:

• Development of the MorphLink framework for systematic analysis.
• Evaluation of MorphLink across diverse spatial omics datasets.
• Assessment of MorphLink's scalability and robustness against batch effects.

Main Results:

• MorphLink effectively extracts and links morphological features with molecular data in spatial omics.
• The framework reveals cellular behavior heterogeneity within tissues, aiding in tumor subtype and immune diversity characterization.
• MorphLink demonstrates scalability and robustness, facilitating integrative analysis across samples and modalities.

Conclusions:

• MorphLink provides a transparent and efficient method for analyzing morphological-molecular interplays in spatial omics.
• The framework enhances the interpretation of complex cellular behaviors and disease mechanisms.
• MorphLink is a valuable tool for large-scale, multi-modal spatial omics studies.