Cited by 173Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsGene expression and cancer classificationGenomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Performance Assessment and Selection of Normalization Procedures for Single-Cell RNA-Seq

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Cole, Michael B., Risso, Davide, Wagner, Allon, DeTomaso, David, Ngai, John, Purdom, Elizabeth, Dudoit, Sandrine, Yosef, Nir·2019·Cell Systems

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Abstract

Systematic measurement biases make normalization an essential step in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis. There may be multiple competing considerations behind the assessment of normalization performance, of which some may be study specific. We have developed "scone"- a flexible framework for assessing performance based on a comprehensive panel of data-driven metrics. Through graphical summaries and quantitative reports, scone summarizes trade-offs and ranks large numbers of normalization methods by panel performance. The method is implemented in the open-source Bioconductor R software package scone. We show that top-performing normalization methods lead to better agreement with independent validation data for a collection of scRNA-seq datasets. scone can be downloaded at http://bioconductor.org/packages/scone/.

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  • Non-linear normalization methods can account for more complex unwanted variation.

    “Non‐linear normalization methods, which can account for more complex unwanted variation, also exist (Cole et al, 2019).”

    From Current best practices in single-cell RNA-seq analysis: a tutorial (2019) · cites this paper as Cole et al, 2019

  • Non-linear normalization methods have been shown to outperform global scaling methods especially in situations with strong batch effects.

    “Non‐linear normalization methods have been shown to outperform global scaling methods especially in situations with strong batch effects (Cole et al, 2019).”

    From Current best practices in single-cell RNA-seq analysis: a tutorial (2019) · cites this paper as Cole et al, 2019

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Authors
Cole, M. B., Risso, D., Wagner, A., DeTomaso, D., Ngai, J., Purdom, E., Dudoit, S., & Yosef, N.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • University of Padua (IT)
Corresponding author
  • Cole, Michael B.
  • Risso, Davide
  • Yosef, Nir
Venue
Cell Systems
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2019-04
Volume
8
Issue
4
Pages
315-328.e8
ISSN
2405-4712 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2951444558
Cited by
173
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 7
FWCI
8.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Systems (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (U01 MH105979, U19 MH114830)
  • Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
  • Silicon Valley Community Foundation
  • Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (F31 DE025176)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene expression and cancer classification
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
Keywords
single-cell RNA sequencing, normalization, performance evaluation, measurement bias, scones, R/Bioconductor package
MeSH terms
RNA-Seq, Calibration, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Software

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