Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42373665›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Accurate trajectory inference in time-series spatial transcriptomics with structurally-constrained optimal transport.

John P Bryan, Samouil L Farhi, Brian Cleary

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing 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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

John P BryanFaculty of Computing and Data Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
Samouil L FarhiSpatial Technology Platform, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA. sfarhi@broadinstitute.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1359-4568
Brian ClearyFaculty of Computing and Data Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA. bcleary@bu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0825-7129

Funding

Comprehensive single-cell atlas of the developing mouse brainU01MH130962 · NIMH · HARVARD UNIVERSITY · PI Paola Arlotta, Tomasz Nowakowski · 2022 to 2026
$33.3M
Scaling up spatial RNA profiling with compressed sensingRF1MH121289 · NIMH · BROAD INSTITUTE, INC. · PI CHEN, FEI, ELDAR, YONINA · 2019 to 2019
$1.6M
Measuring and modeling gene expression trajectories: new computational-experimental approachesR35GM160123 · NIGMS · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · PI Brian Lowman Cleary · 2025 to 2026
$899k
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM160123NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH121289NIMH NIH HHS U01 MH130962U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35GM160123U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) RF1 MH121289U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) U01 MH130962
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

New experimental and computational methods use genetic or gene expression observations with single cell resolution to study the relationship between single-cell molecular profiles and developmental trajectories. Most tissues contain spatially contiguous regions that develop as a unit, such as follicles in the ovary, or tubules and glomeruli in the kidney. We find that existing approaches designed to use time series spatial transcriptomics (ST) data produce biologically incoherent trajectories that fail to maintain these structural units over time. We present Spatiotemporal Optimal transport with Contiguous Structures (SOCS), an Optimal Transport-based trajectory inference method for time-series ST that produces trajectory inferences preserving the structural integrity of contiguous biologically meaningful units, along with gene expression similarity and global geometric structure. We show that SOCS produces more plausible trajectory estimates, maintaining the spatial coherence of biological structures across time, enabling more accurate trajectory inference and biological insight than other approaches.

Indexed as

Spatial TranscriptomicsTranscriptomeAlgorithmsAnimalsFemaleGene Expression ProfilingSingle-Cell Analysis

Identifiers

PMID42373665
PMCPMC13454141

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.