Whole-body molecular and cellular mapping of the laboratory mouse

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Authors: Margarette H. Clevenger, Denis Cipurko, Ashwini Patil, Bohan Li, Michihiro Takahama, Linghan Mei, Madison Plaster, Gabriella Richey, Tadafumi Kawamoto, Feng Bao, Nicolas Chevrier
Cited by: 2
References: 75

Abstract

The laboratory mouse is a key model system for biomedical research, yet body-wide measurement tools are lacking. Here, we generate spatiotranscriptomics profiles of whole-mouse sections that accurately capture histological regions. We spatially assign 379 cell types across whole-mouse section profiles by building a reference dataset of 59M single cells coupled with a scalable computational method for cell-type assignment. Moreover, we exploit these whole-mouse profiles to create a machine learning pipeline, LABEL, which enables pan-body annotation of tissues and cell types on histology images from H&E-stained sections. Lastly, we apply whole-mouse spatial profiling to map systemic inflammation in endotoxemia, which delineates organism-wide changes in gene expression programs across tissues and cell types. Together, our work paves the way for body-wide studies of the molecular and cellular processes that govern the organismal biology of the laboratory mouse across space, time, and conditions.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Animal testing and alternatives Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics Cell Image Analysis Techniques

Publication details

Journal / source
Cell
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
189
Issue
11
Pages
3481–3498.e24
Publication date
27 March 2026
Language
EN