Dual-Path Knowledge-Augmented Contrastive Alignment Network for Spatially Resolved Transcriptomics

TL;DR

This paper introduces DKAN, a novel model that integrates histopathological images and gene expression data using contrastive learning and biological knowledge to improve spatial gene expression prediction in tissue analysis.

Contribution

The paper proposes a dual-path contrastive alignment network with gene semantic representations and adaptive weighting, advancing multimodal integration for spatial transcriptomics prediction.

Findings

Outperforms existing models on three public datasets

Establishes new benchmark for spatial gene expression prediction

Demonstrates effective biological knowledge integration enhances accuracy

Abstract

Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) is a technology that measures gene expression profiles within tissue sections while retaining spatial context. It reveals localized gene expression patterns and tissue heterogeneity, both of which are essential for understanding disease etiology. However, its high cost has driven efforts to predict spatial gene expression from whole slide images. Despite recent advancements, current methods still face significant limitations, such as under-exploitation of high-level biological context, over-reliance on exemplar retrievals, and inadequate alignment of heterogeneous modalities. To address these challenges, we propose DKAN, a novel Dual-path Knowledge-Augmented contrastive alignment Network that predicts spatially resolved gene expression by integrating histopathological images and gene expression profiles through a biologically informed approach. Specifically, we introduce an effective gene semantic representation module that leverages the external gene database to provide additional biological insights, thereby enhancing gene expression prediction. Further, we adopt a unified, one-stage contrastive learning paradigm, seamlessly combining contrastive learning and supervised learning to eliminate reliance on exemplars, complemented with an adaptive weighting mechanism. Additionally, we propose a dual-path contrastive alignment module that employs gene semantic features as dynamic cross-modal coordinators to enable effective heterogeneous feature integration. Through extensive experiments across three public ST datasets, DKAN demonstrates superior performance over state-of-the-art models, establishing a new benchmark for spatial gene expression prediction and offering a powerful tool for advancing biological and clinical research.