{
  "abstract": "Spatial transcriptomics and single-cell methods are changing the questions we can ask about the human cardiovascular system. In this review, we share lessons learned from applying spatial profiling to human cardiovascular samples. We walk through experimental considerations, sampling, fixation, and ribonucleic acid quality control, then compare sequencing-based and imaging-based platforms within a 2-stage \"discovery then validation\" framework. We propose a heart-aware analytical pipeline: spatially informed quality control, normalization respecting the outsized transcriptome of cardiomyocytes, thoughtful segmentation, and honest assessment of reproducibility. We consider how spatial data can be woven together with single-cell, epigenomic, and proteomic layers, and look ahead to emerging frontiers including integration with cardiac imaging foundation models. Our hope is that spatially resolved molecular data will reveal new tissue niches to target for precision cardiovascular therapies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.",
    "Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.",
    "Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.",
    "Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.",
    "Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.",
    "Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.",
    "Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom. Electronic address: andrew.lewis@cardiov.ox.ac.uk."
  ],
  "article_type": "review article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hongyan Tao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "James Cranley"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Farid Kadyrov"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Haewon Shin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Raphaël Blain"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Jagdeep Nanchahal"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Adrien Hallou"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Kaiyue Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Maarten Hulsmans",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1009-658X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Jm Lewis"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8ttvxstd3zjay.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.jacbts.2026.101730",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13694427",
  "id": "8ttvxstd3zjay",
  "issns": [
    "2452-302X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42874164",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214003009",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13694427?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13694427",
  "pmid": "42874164",
  "published": "2026-09-22",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8ttvxstd3zjay.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:16Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42874164",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42874164"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Applying Spatial Transcriptomics to the Human Heart: A Practical Guide for Translational Studies.",
  "title_text": "Applying Spatial Transcriptomics to the Human Heart: A Practical Guide for Translational Studies.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:16Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8ttvxstd3zjay",
  "venue": "JACC. Basic to translational science",
  "versions": []
}