A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Inferring Tree-Shaped Single-Cell Trajectories with Totem
Authors: Sousa, António GG; Smolander, Johannes; Junttila, Sini; Elo, Laura L.
Editors: Azad, Rajeev K.
Edition: 1
Publisher: Humana Press, Inc.
Publication year: 2024
Journal: Methods in Molecular Biology
Book title : Transcriptome Data Analysis
Journal name in source: Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Journal acronym: Methods Mol Biol
Series title: Methods in Molecular Biology
Volume: 2812
First page : 169
Last page: 191
ISBN: 978-1-0716-3885-9
eISBN: 978-1-0716-3886-6
ISSN: 1064-3745
eISSN: 1940-6029
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3886-6_9
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3886-6_9
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/457463238
Single-cell transcriptomics allows unbiased characterization of cell heterogeneity in a sample by profiling gene expression at single-cell level. These profiles capture snapshots of transient or steady states in dynamic processes, such as cell cycle, activation, or differentiation, which can be computationally ordered into a "flip-book" of cell development using trajectory inference methods. However, prediction of more complex topology structures, such as multifurcations or trees, remains challenging. In this chapter, we present two user-friendly protocols for inferring tree-shaped single-cell trajectories and pseudotime from single-cell transcriptomics data with Totem. Totem is a trajectory inference method that offers flexibility in inferring both nonlinear and linear trajectories and usability by avoiding the cumbersome fine-tuning of parameters. The QuickStart protocol provides a simple and practical example, whereas the GuidedStart protocol details the analysis step-by-step. Both protocols are demonstrated using a case study of human bone marrow CD34+ cells, allowing the study of the branching of three lineages: erythroid, lymphoid, and myeloid. All the analyses can be fully reproduced in Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems (amd64 architecture) with >8 Gb of RAM using the provided docker image distributed with notebooks, scripts, and data in Docker Hub (elolab/repro-totem-ti). These materials are shared online under open-source license at https://elolab.github.io/Totem-protocol .
Funding information in the publication:
AGGS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No.: 955321. This research was also supported by the University of Turku, Åbo Akademi University, Turku Graduate School (UTUGS). LLE reports grants from the Academy of Finland (310561, 314443, 329278, 335434, 335611, and 341342) and Sigrid Jusélius Foundation during the conduct of the study. Our research is also supported by Biocenter Finland and ELIXIR Finland.