Graph-based Contrastive Learning Enables Unified Integration and Niche Transfer Across Single-Cell and Spatial Multi-Omics

Abstract

The rapid growth of single-cell and spatial omics has outpaced computational methods capable of unifying these data into a cohesive framework for tissue atlas construction and cross-sample analysis. A critical bottleneck lies in the inability of existing tools to co-embed cells from diverse technologies--spanning transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics--into a shared reference space while preserving spatial architecture and molecular specificity. Here, we present Garfield (Graph-based Contrastive Learning Enables Fast Single-Cell Embedding), a geometric deep-learning framework that addresses these challenges through spatially or molecularly aware cell embedding. Leveraging a graph contrastive learning framework, Garfield learns a shared embedding space for data generated by diverse technologies, enabling seamless construction and querying of spatial reference atlases. Our results show that Garfield consistently outperforms state-of-the-art benchmark models in identifying spatial niches across multiple datasets. We further demonstrate Garfields versatility by applying it to multi-modal spatial data, including gene expression and chromatin accessibility, where it successfully identifies distinct niches in the mouse brain. Notably, Garfield reveals tumor microenvironment heterogeneity in non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer, uncovered conserved, barrier-like immune niches at tumor margins orchestrating CD80-mediated T cell-B cell-dendritic cell interactions and IFN-/B cell activation pathways, forming spatially coordinated immune surveillance hubs. These findings underscore Garfields potential to advance spatial omics research by offering a robust, scalable solution for integrating and interpreting complex spatial data across diverse tissue types and modalities.