Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation

Abstract Background Recent advancements in single-cell RNA sequencing have greatly expanded our knowledge of the heterogeneous nature of tissues. However, robust and accurate cell type annotation continues to be a major challenge, hindered by issues such as marker specificity, batch effects, and a l...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu-An Huang, Yue-Chao Li, Zhu-Hong You, Lun Hu, Peng-Wei Hu, Lei Wang, Yuzhong Peng, Zhi-An Huang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-01-01
Series:BMC Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02128-8
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832585358290714624
author Yu-An Huang
Yue-Chao Li
Zhu-Hong You
Lun Hu
Peng-Wei Hu
Lei Wang
Yuzhong Peng
Zhi-An Huang
author_facet Yu-An Huang
Yue-Chao Li
Zhu-Hong You
Lun Hu
Peng-Wei Hu
Lei Wang
Yuzhong Peng
Zhi-An Huang
author_sort Yu-An Huang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Recent advancements in single-cell RNA sequencing have greatly expanded our knowledge of the heterogeneous nature of tissues. However, robust and accurate cell type annotation continues to be a major challenge, hindered by issues such as marker specificity, batch effects, and a lack of comprehensive spatial and interaction data. Traditional annotation methods often fail to adequately address the complexity of cellular interactions and gene regulatory networks. Results We proposed scMCGraph, a comprehensive computational framework that integrates gene expression with pathway activity to accurately annotate cell types within diverse scRNA-seq datasets. Initially, our model constructs multiple pathway-specific views using various pathway databases, which reflect both gene expression and pathway activities. These pathway-specific views are then integrated into a consensus graph. The consensus graph is subsequently utilized to reconstruct the multiple pathway views. Our model demonstrated exceptional robustness and accuracy across various analyses, including cross-platform, cross-time, cross-sample, and clinical dataset evaluations. Conclusions scMCGraph represents a significant advance in cell type annotation. The experiments have demonstrated that introducing pathway information significantly improves the learning of cell–cell graphs, with their resulting consensus graph enhancing the predictive performance of cell type prediction. Different pathway databases provide complementary data, and an increase in the number of pathways can also boost model performance. Extensive testing shows that in various cross-dataset application scenarios, scMCGraph consistently exhibits both accuracy and robustness.
format Article
id doaj-art-6dcbaecea40a49119d0a387f9e7dae1d
institution Kabale University
issn 1741-7007
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Biology
spelling doaj-art-6dcbaecea40a49119d0a387f9e7dae1d2025-01-26T12:52:38ZengBMCBMC Biology1741-70072025-01-0123112110.1186/s12915-025-02128-8Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotationYu-An Huang0Yue-Chao Li1Zhu-Hong You2Lun Hu3Peng-Wei Hu4Lei Wang5Yuzhong Peng6Zhi-An Huang7School of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Computer Science, Northwestern Polytechnical UniversitySchool of Electronic Information, Xijing UniversityXinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of ScienceXinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of ScienceGuangxi Key Lab of Human-Machine Interaction and Intelligent Decision, Guangxi Academy of SciencesGuangxi Key Lab of Human-Machine Interaction and Intelligent Decision, Nanning Normal UniversityResearch Office, City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan)Abstract Background Recent advancements in single-cell RNA sequencing have greatly expanded our knowledge of the heterogeneous nature of tissues. However, robust and accurate cell type annotation continues to be a major challenge, hindered by issues such as marker specificity, batch effects, and a lack of comprehensive spatial and interaction data. Traditional annotation methods often fail to adequately address the complexity of cellular interactions and gene regulatory networks. Results We proposed scMCGraph, a comprehensive computational framework that integrates gene expression with pathway activity to accurately annotate cell types within diverse scRNA-seq datasets. Initially, our model constructs multiple pathway-specific views using various pathway databases, which reflect both gene expression and pathway activities. These pathway-specific views are then integrated into a consensus graph. The consensus graph is subsequently utilized to reconstruct the multiple pathway views. Our model demonstrated exceptional robustness and accuracy across various analyses, including cross-platform, cross-time, cross-sample, and clinical dataset evaluations. Conclusions scMCGraph represents a significant advance in cell type annotation. The experiments have demonstrated that introducing pathway information significantly improves the learning of cell–cell graphs, with their resulting consensus graph enhancing the predictive performance of cell type prediction. Different pathway databases provide complementary data, and an increase in the number of pathways can also boost model performance. Extensive testing shows that in various cross-dataset application scenarios, scMCGraph consistently exhibits both accuracy and robustness.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02128-8Single-cell RNA sequencingCell type annotationConsensus graphCellular communicationPathway integration
spellingShingle Yu-An Huang
Yue-Chao Li
Zhu-Hong You
Lun Hu
Peng-Wei Hu
Lei Wang
Yuzhong Peng
Zhi-An Huang
Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
BMC Biology
Single-cell RNA sequencing
Cell type annotation
Consensus graph
Cellular communication
Pathway integration
title Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
title_full Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
title_fullStr Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
title_full_unstemmed Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
title_short Consensus representation of multiple cell–cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
title_sort consensus representation of multiple cell cell graphs from gene signaling pathways for cell type annotation
topic Single-cell RNA sequencing
Cell type annotation
Consensus graph
Cellular communication
Pathway integration
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02128-8
work_keys_str_mv AT yuanhuang consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT yuechaoli consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT zhuhongyou consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT lunhu consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT pengweihu consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT leiwang consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT yuzhongpeng consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation
AT zhianhuang consensusrepresentationofmultiplecellcellgraphsfromgenesignalingpathwaysforcelltypeannotation