Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32943655›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2020

Northstar enables automatic classification of known and novel cell types from tumor samples.

Fabio Zanini, Bojk A Berghuis, Robert C Jones, Benedetta Nicolis di Robilant, Rachel Yuan Nong, Jeffrey A Norton, Michael F Clarke, Stephen R Quake

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Mapping Cell Identity from scRNA-seq: A primer on computational methods.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Fabio Zanini *Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. fabio.zanini@unsw.edu.au.
Bojk A Berghuis *Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Robert C JonesDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Benedetta Nicolis di RobilantDepartment of Oncology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Rachel Yuan NongDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Jeffrey A NortonDepartment of Surgery, Stanford Pancreas Cancer Research Group, General Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Michael F ClarkeDepartment of Oncology, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
Stephen R QuakeDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA. quake@stanford.edu.

Funding

Translational Oncology Research Program (Project-005)P30CA124435 · NCI · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI Melinda L. Telli · 2007 to 2026
$71.4M
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Single cell transcriptomics is revolutionising our understanding of tissue and disease heterogeneity, yet cell type identification remains a partially manual task. Published algorithms for automatic cell annotation are limited to known cell types and fail to capture novel populations, especially cancer cells. We developed northstar, a computational approach to classify thousands of cells based on published data within seconds while simultaneously identifying and highlighting new cell states such as malignancies. We tested northstar on data from glioblastoma, melanoma, and seven different healthy tissues and obtained high accuracy and robustness. We collected eleven pancreatic tumors and identified three shared and five private neoplastic cell populations, offering insight into the origins of neuroendocrine and exocrine tumors. Northstar is a useful tool to assign known and novel cell type and states in the age of cell atlases.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsBrainCluster AnalysisDatabases, FactualGene Expression ProfilingGlioblastomaHumansMelanomaNeuroendocrine TumorsPancreas, ExocrinePancreatic NeoplasmsSingle-Cell Analysis

Identifiers

PMID32943655
PMCPMC7499423

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.