Glioblastoma stem cells show transcriptionally correlated spatial organization

Communications Biology 2026 Open access

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Authors: Shamini Ayyadhury, Patty Sachamitr, Michelle M. Kushida, Nicole Park, Fiona J. Coutinho, Owen Whitley, Panagiotis Prinos, C.H. Arrowsmith, Peter B. Dirks, Trevor J. Pugh, Gary D. Bader
DOI: 10.1038/s42003-026-09566-2
Cited by: 1
References: 27

Abstract

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive brain cancer with a poor survival rate. Despite hundreds of clinical trials, there is no effective targeted therapy. Glioblastoma stem cells (GSCs) are an important GBM model system. In culture, these cells form spatial structures that share morphological aspects with their source tumors. We collected 17,000 phase-contrast images of 15 patient-derived GSC lines growing to confluence. We find that GSCs grow in characteristic multicellular patterns depending on their transcriptional state. Interpretable computer vision algorithms identified specific image features that predict transcriptional state across multiple cell confluency levels. This relationship will be useful in developing GSC screens where image features can be used to identify how GSC biology changes in response to perturbations simply by imaging cultured cells on plates.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cell Image Analysis Techniques Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications Digital Holography and Microscopy

Publication details

Journal / source
Communications Biology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
208–208
Publication date
23 January 2026
Language
EN