Original title: Velde: constructing cell potential landscapes by RNA velocity vector field decomposition
Authors: Junbo Jia, Luonan Chen
This article aims to enhance the Waddington landscape metaphor used to understand cell development. It introduces a new method to construct potential landscapes that consider both cell differentiation and the cell cycle simultaneously. The existing methods often focus solely on differentiation, neglecting the role of the cell cycle. This novel approach, called the natural Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition (nHHD), dissects the RNA velocity vector field into two components: one representing cell differentiation and the other the cell cycle. By doing this, it creates distinct potential landscapes for both processes. Applying this method to real and synthetic data showcases its effectiveness, offering a comprehensive view of cell development that integrates differentiation and the cell cycle. Ultimately, this approach provides a more nuanced understanding of how cells evolve and differentiate, akin to mapping out multiple paths in the Waddington landscape.
Original article: https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.10403