scMontage: Fast and Robust Gene Expression Similarity Search for Massive Single-cell Data

Abstract

Single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) analysis is widely used to characterize cell types or detect heterogeneity of cell states at much higher resolutions than ever before. Here we introduce scMontage (https://scmontage.stemcellinformatics.org), a gene expression similarity search server dedicated to scRNA-seq data, which can rapidly compare a query with thousands of samples within a few seconds. The scMontage search is based on Spearmans rank correlation coefficient and its robustness is ensured by introducing Fishers Z-transformation and Z-test. Furthermore, search results are linked to a human cell database SHOGoiN (http://shogoin.stemcellinformatics.org), which enable users to fast access to additional cell-type specific information. The scMontage is available not only as a web server but also as a stand-alone application for users own data, and thus it enhances the reliability and throughput of cell analysis and helps users gain new insights into their research.