Spatial transcriptomics enables the simultaneous measurement of morphological features and transcriptional profiles of the same cells or regions in tissues.Here we present multi-modal structured embedding (MUSE), an approach to characterize cells and tissue regions by integrating morphological and spatially resolved transcriptional data. We demonstrate that MUSE can discover tissue subpopulations missed by either modality as well as compensate for modality-specific noise. We apply MUSE to diverse datasets containing spatial transcriptomics (seqFISH+, STARmap or Visium) and imaging (hematoxylin and eosin or fluorescence microscopy) modalities. MUSE identified biologically meaningful tissue subpopulations and stereotyped spatial patterning in healthy brain cortex and intestinal tissues. In diseased tissues, MUSE revealed gene biomarkers for proximity to tumor region and heterogeneity of amyloid precursor protein processing across Alzheimer brain regions. MUSE enables the integration of multi-modal data to provide insights into the states, functions and organization of cells in complex biological tissues.
The flow structures of Jupiter's Great Red Spot (GRS) are studied based on a highresolution velocity field extracted from the Galileo 1996 cloud images of the GRS by using the physics-based optical flow method. The mean transverse velocity profile across the anti-cyclonic near-elliptical collar of the GRS is obtained. The flow structures in the relatively quiescent inner region enclosed by the high-speed collar are revealed at a coarse-grained level. The cyclonic source node in the inner region is identified that is directly associated with the observed cyclonic rotation near the center of the GRS, and its significance in the maintenance of the GRS is explored by using a topological constraint. C 2012 American Institute of Physics.
Dynamic Ca2+ signals reflect acute changes in membrane excitability (e.g. responses to stimuli), and also mediate intracellular signaling cascades that normally take longer time to manifest (e.g., regulations of transcription). In both cases, chronic Ca2+ imaging has been often desired, but largely hindered by unexpected cytotoxicity intrinsic to GCaMP, a popular series of genetically-encoded Ca2+ indicators. Here, we demonstrate the performance of GCaMP-X in chronic Ca2+ imaging with long-term probe expression in cortical neurons, which has been designed to eliminate the unwanted interactions between conventional GCaMP indicators and endogenous (apo)calmodulin-binding proteins. By expressing in live adult mice at high levels over an extended time frame, GCaMP-X indicators showed less damage and improved performance in two-photon imaging of acute Ca2+ responses to whisker deflection or spontaneous Ca2+ fluctuations. Chronic Ca2+ imaging data (³1 month) were acquired from cultured cortical neurons expressing GCaMP-X, unveiling that spontaneous/local Ca2+ transients would progressively develop into autonomous/global Ca2+ oscillations. Besides the morphological indices of neurite length and soma size, the major metrics of oscillatory Ca2+, including rate, amplitude and synchrony were also examined along with the multiple stages (from neonatal to mature) during neural development. Dysregulations of both neuritogenesis and Ca2+ oscillations were observed typically in 2-3 weeks, which were exacerbated by stronger or prolonged expression of GCaMP. In comparison, neurons expressing GCaMP-X exhibited significantly less damage. By varying the timepoints of virus infection or drug induction, GCaMP-X outperformed GCaMP similarly in cultured mature neurons. These data altogether highlight the unique importance of oscillatory Ca2+ to morphology and health of neurons, presumably underlying the differential performance between GCaMP-X and GCaMP. In summary, GCaMP-X provides a viable option for Ca2+ imaging applications involving long-time and/or high-level expression of Ca2+ probes.
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