NLSDeconv: an efficient cell-type deconvolution method for spatial transcriptomics data

Spatial transcriptomics (ST) allows gene expression profiling within intact tissue samples but lacks single-cell resolution. This necessitates computational deconvolution methods to estimate the contributions of distinct cell types. This article introduces NLSDeconv, a novel cell-type deconvolution method based on non-negative least squares, along with an accompanying Python package. Benchmarking against 18 existing deconvolution methods on various ST datasets demonstrates NLSDeconv's competitive statistical performance and superior computational efficiency.