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Multiplexed image analysis: what have we achieved and where are we headed?

Multiplexed tissue imaging has transformed tissue biology by revealing cellular diversity and interactions, but the analysis of its massive datasets remains a bottleneck. Here, we provide an overview of computational advancements, discuss current challenges and envision an AI-driven future in which integrated tools streamline analysis and visualization, unlocking the full potential of multiplexed imaging for breakthroughs in spatial biology.

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Fig. 1: Multiplexed imaging extracts data at various length-scales.
Fig. 2: Current and future analysis paradigms.

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Acknowledgements

L.K. holds the Fred and Andrea Fallek President’s Development Chair. She is supported by the Enoch Foundation Research Fund, the Abisch-Frenkel Foundation, the Rising Tide Foundation, the Sharon Levine Foundation and grants funded by the Schwartz/Reisman Collaborative Science Program, the European Research Council (948811), the Israel Science Foundation (2481/20, 3830/21) within the Israel Precision Medicine Partnership program and the Israeli Council for Higher Education (CHE) via the Weizmann Data Science Research Center. Y.B. is supported by the Clore Scholars Programme of the Clore Israel Foundation.

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Y.B. and L.K. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Leeat Keren.

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Bussi, Y., Keren, L. Multiplexed image analysis: what have we achieved and where are we headed?. Nat Methods 21, 2212–2215 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-024-02539-5

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