Eliason J, Peruzzi M, Rao A (2026) SHADE: A multilevel Bayesian framework for modeling directional spatial interactions in tissue microenvironments.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1013930
Most methods for analyzing how cells are arranged in tumors assume symmetric relationships and analyze each tissue slice in isolation. SHADE captures directional, asymmetric spatial dependencies between cell types while borrowing strength across patients in a hierarchical Bayesian framework. In colorectal cancer data, it reveals distinct directional patterns distinguishing immune-infiltrated from immune-excluded tumors, with substantial patient-level heterogeneity.
