End-to-end flow, spectral, and mass cytometry (CyTOF) pipeline from raw FCS files to differentially abundant/expressed cell populations. Orchestrates the read -> compensate/unmix -> transform -> QC -> doublet-removal -> cluster-or-gate -> annotate -> diffcyt DA/DS chain with flowCore/CATALYST/diffcyt, branching on instrument type and on clustering-vs-gating. Use when processing a cytometry experiment end-to-end, deciding the pipeline path for an instrument, or wiring the flow-cytometry component skills into one analysis with valid sample-level statistics.
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name
bio-workflows-cytometry-pipeline
description
End-to-end flow, spectral, and mass cytometry (CyTOF) pipeline from raw FCS files to differentially abundant/expressed cell populations. Orchestrates the read -> compensate/unmix -> transform -> QC -> doublet-removal -> cluster-or-gate -> annotate -> diffcyt DA/DS chain with flowCore/CATALYST/diffcyt, branching on instrument type and on clustering-vs-gating. Use when processing a cytometry experiment end-to-end, deciding the pipeline path for an instrument, or wiring the flow-cytometry component skills into one analysis with valid sample-level statistics.
[{"after_load":"Read RAW (transformation=FALSE); >~10K cells/sample for stable per-sample frequencies"},{"after_compensation":"Compensate/unmix on LINEAR data before transform; single-stain controls >= as bright as sample; FMO for boundaries"},{"after_qc":"Margins removed BEFORE density QC; doublets removed BEFORE clustering; dead cells gated"},{"after_clustering":"10-30 metaclusters (over-provision then merge); cluster on TYPE markers only, test STATE in DS"},{"after_testing":">=2-3 biological replicates/group (the sample is the unit); batch modeled in the design; BH FDR across clusters (and clusters x markers for DS)"}]
Before using code patterns, verify installed versions match. If versions differ:
R: packageVersion('<pkg>') then ?function_name to verify parameters
Python: pip show <package> then help(module.function) to check signatures
If code throws ImportError, AttributeError, or TypeError, introspect the installed package and adapt rather than retrying. Each stage defers depth to its component skill.
Flow Cytometry Pipeline
"Process my cytometry data from FCS to differential populations" -> read raw -> compensate/unmix -> transform -> QC -> remove doublets -> cluster (or gate) -> annotate -> test DA/DS, with the sample as the unit of inference.
The Single Most Important Modern Insight -- A Pipeline Is a Chain of Irreversible Decisions, and the Unit of Inference Is the Sample
Each early choice silently gates the validity of the final test: reading raw (not log-linearized), compensating BEFORE transforming, removing margin events before density QC, assigning type-vs-state markers correctly, and removing doublets before clustering. None of these is recoverable downstream - a doublet clustered as a "double-positive," a state marker used for clustering, or an uncompensated channel becomes a false population that the differential test then "confirms." The second critical thread is that the SAMPLE/subject, not the cell, is the experimental unit: diffcyt aggregates cells to per-sample-per-cluster counts (DA) and medians (DS) before testing, so biological replication (>= 2-3 per group) is mandatory and a per-cell test is invalid. Two normalization layers sit at different points in the pipeline - EQ-bead drift correction on raw counts at the very front (CyTOF), and CytoNorm cross-batch harmonization on transformed data before the analytical clustering (its internal FlowSOM clustering is part of the batch model, not the analysis) - and conflating them is a classic error.
metals barely spill (~1-4%); drift correction first
High-dim discovery, no prior gates
cluster (FlowSOM via CATALYST)
scales; finds unexpected populations
Well-defined populations / rare events (MRD)
hierarchical gating (openCyto)
interpretable; clustering fails for ultra-rare
Multi-batch / multi-day
anchor sample per batch -> CytoNorm (normalize transformed data before analytical clustering)
model batch in the design for inference
Pipeline Overview
FCS -> compensate/unmix -> transform -> QC (margins, time, dead) -> doublets
-> [ cluster (FlowSOM) | gate (openCyto) ] -> annotate -> diffcyt DA/DS -> report
EQ-bead drift normalization (CyTOF) runs on raw counts BEFORE everything; CytoNorm runs on transformed data and its normalized output feeds the cluster/gate step.
1. Panel, Metadata, and Load
Goal: Define the type/state panel and sample metadata, then load FCS.
Approach: Panel marker_class drives everything downstream (type clusters, state is tested); metadata keys samples to condition/subject. See flow-cytometry/fcs-handling.
Goal: Remove spillover on linear data, then variance-stabilize.
Approach: Conventional flow compensates (matrix before transform); CyTOF skips fluorescence compensation and uses cofactor 5; spectral unmixes then uses ~150. See flow-cytometry/compensation-transformation.
spill <- spillover(fs[[1]]); spill <- spill[[which(!vapply(spill,is.null, logical(1)))[1]]]# first POPULATED matrix; FACS stores it under SPILL/$SPILLOVER, not always [[1]]
fs_comp <- compensate(fs, spill)# conventional flow; CyTOF: omit or use compCytof
COFACTOR <- 150 # 5 for CyTOF, ~150 for fluorescence/spectral
sce <- prepData(fs_comp, panel, md, transform =TRUE, cofactor = COFACTOR, FACS =TRUE)
3. QC (order matters)
Goal: Remove margin/boundary events and time anomalies before any density step.
Approach: Margins first, then time-based cleaning; on CyTOF, EQ-bead drift correction happens upstream on raw counts. See flow-cytometry/cytometry-qc and flow-cytometry/bead-normalization.
Goal: Drop aggregates before clustering so they don't form phantom double-positives.
Approach: Flow uses the FSC-A vs FSC-H diagonal; CyTOF uses DNA intercalator + Gaussian/Event_length. See flow-cytometry/doublet-detection.
# CyTOF (FACS=TRUE retained Event_length on the arcsinh scale):
e <- assay(sce,'exprs')if(all(c('DNA1','Event_length')%in% rownames(sce))){
keep <- e['DNA1',]> quantile(e['DNA1',],0.05)&
e['Event_length',]<= quantile(e['Event_length',],0.99)
sce <- sce[, keep]}
5. Cluster (FlowSOM) or Gate
Goal: Define populations by unsupervised clustering on TYPE markers (discovery) or hierarchical gating (defined/rare).
Approach:cluster() wraps FlowSOM+ConsensusClusterPlus; over-provision the grid, set a seed. See flow-cytometry/clustering-phenotyping (clustering) and flow-cytometry/gating-analysis (gating).
Goal: Label metaclusters from marker medians; embed for display only.
Approach: Median heatmap drives annotation; UMAP colors by cluster but is never used to define or quantify populations.
plotExprHeatmap(sce, features ='type', by ='cluster_id', k ='meta20', scale ='last')
sce <- runDR(sce, dr ='UMAP', features ='type', cells =2000)
plotDR(sce, dr ='UMAP', color_by ='meta20')
7. Differential Abundance and State
Goal: Test which populations change in frequency (DA) or state-marker expression (DS) between conditions.
Approach: The diffcyt() wrapper aggregates to the sample level; results live in res$res. See flow-cytometry/differential-analysis.
Goal: Define populations by a reproducible hierarchy when they are well-defined or rare.
Approach: Build a GatingSet on transformed data; recompute after adding gates. See flow-cytometry/gating-analysis.
library(flowWorkspace)
tl <- estimateLogicle(fs_comp[[1]], colnames(spill))
gs <- GatingSet(transform(fs_comp, tl))# add openCyto template or manual gates (time -> debris -> singlets -> live -> lineage), then:
recompute(gs); gs_pop_get_stats(gs, type ='count')
Python Alternative (FlowKit) -- partial
Goal: Read, compensate, and gate in Python where an R pipeline is not an option.
Approach: FlowKit covers IO/compensation/GatingML; there is NO Python equivalent for diffcyt DA/DS, so the differential step stays in R (or bridge via readfcs -> AnnData -> scanpy for clustering only).
import flowkit as fk
sample = fk.Sample('sample.fcs')
sample.apply_compensation(sample.metadata['spillover']) # FlowKit lowercases + strips $ from keys, so $SPILLOVER -> 'spillover' (not 'spill'); use FlowKit's API, not a hand-rolled inverse
df = sample.as_dataframe(source='comp')
Per-Stage Failure Modes
Per-cell pseudoreplication
Trigger: testing across all cells. Mechanism: cells are not independent replicates. Symptom: p ~ 1e-40 from few subjects. Fix: diffcyt aggregates to sample level; require >= 2-3 replicates/group.
Clustering on state markers
Trigger: activation/phospho markers in features. Mechanism: state contaminates lineage identity. Symptom: activated/resting splits of one type. Fix: cluster on type; test state in DS.
Doublets / wrong cofactor / uncompensated input
Trigger: skipping doublet removal, cofactor 5 on fluorescence, or clustering raw data. Mechanism: phantom double-positives, compressed dim markers, spillover-dominated distances. Symptom: non-reproducible "novel" populations. Fix: remove doublets first; cofactor 5 (CyTOF) / 150 (fluorescence); compensate+transform before clustering.
Batch cleaned instead of modeled
Trigger: CytoNorm-ing then testing naively, or batch confounded with condition. Mechanism: over-correction / non-identifiability. Symptom: attenuated or fabricated effects. Fix: model batch in the design; if batch == condition, no rescue.
Quantitative Thresholds
Threshold
Source
Rationale
arcsinh cofactor 5 (CyTOF) / ~150 (fluorescence)
Nowicka 2017 F1000Res 6:748
matches platform noise scale
>= 2-3 biological replicates per group
Weber 2019 Commun Biol 2:183
minimum for a valid DA/DS error term
> ~10K cells per sample
community
stable per-sample cluster frequencies
10-30 metaclusters typical (maxK=20 default)
Weber & Robinson 2016 Cytometry A 89:1084
over-provision then merge
BH FDR across clusters (and clusters x markers for DS)
diffcyt
many simultaneous tests
Common Errors
Error / symptom
Cause
Solution
testDA_edgeR(sce, ...) not found / wrong
fabricated signature
use the diffcyt() wrapper; results in res$res
compensate() errors / silent NULL
spillover(ff) returns a 3-slot list; the matrix is often under SPILL/$SPILLOVER, not [[1]]
select the first non-null slot, not positional [[1]]
