Spatial transcriptomics is revolutionizing the exploration of intratissue heterogeneity in cancer, yet capturing cellular niches and their spatial relationships remains challenging. We introduce SpottedPy, a Python package designed to identify tumor hotspots and map spatial interactions within the cancer ecosystem. Using SpottedPy, we examine epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity in breast cancer and highlight stable niches associated with angiogenic and hypoxic regions, shielded by CAFs and macrophages. Hybrid and mesenchymal hotspot distribution follows transformation gradients reflecting progressive immunosuppression. Our method offers flexibility to explore spatial relationships at different scales, from immediate neighbors to broader tissue modules, providing new insights into tumor microenvironment dynamics.

中文翻译：

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SpottedPy 量化了空间转录组热点之间的关系，并揭示了乳腺癌上皮-间充质可塑性的环境线索


空间转录组学正在彻底改变癌症组织内异质性的探索，但捕获细胞生态位及其空间关系仍然具有挑战性。我们介绍了 SpottedPy，这是一个 Python 包，旨在识别肿瘤热点并绘制癌症生态系统中的空间交互。使用 SpottedPy，我们检查了乳腺癌中的上皮-间充质可塑性，并突出了与血管生成和缺氧区域相关的稳定生态位，这些区域被 CAF 和巨噬细胞屏蔽。杂交和间充质热点分布遵循反映进行性免疫抑制的转化梯度。我们的方法提供了探索不同尺度的空间关系的灵活性，从直接相邻到更广泛的组织模块，为肿瘤微环境动力学提供了新的见解。