RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Rapid single-cell cytometry data visualization with EmbedSOM JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 496869 DO 10.1101/496869 A1 Miroslav Kratochvíl A1 Abhishek Koladiya A1 Jana Balounova A1 Vendula Novosadova A1 Karel Fišer A1 Radislav Sedlacek A1 Jiří Vondrášek A1 Karel Drbal YR 2018 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/20/496869.abstract AB Efficient unbiased data analysis is a major challenge for laboratories handling large cytometry datasets. We present EmbedSOM, a non-linear embedding algorithm based on FlowSOM that improves the analyses by providing high-performance visualization of complex single cell distributions within cellular populations and their transition states. The algorithm is designed for linear scaling and speed suitable for interactive analyses of millions of cells without downsampling. At the same time, the visualization quality is competitive with current state-of-art algorithms. We demonstrate the properties of EmbedSOM on workflows that improve two essential types of analyses: The native ability of EmbedSOM to align population positions in embedding is used for comparative analysis of multi-sample data, and the connection to FlowSOM is exploited for simplifying the supervised hierarchical dissection of cell populations. Additionally, we discuss the visualization of the trajectories between cellular states facilitated by the local linearity of the embedding.