glydraw with ComplexHeatmap

ComplexHeatmap provides flexible annotations for heatmap rows and columns. glydraw extends those annotations with anno_glycan(), which draws SNFG cartoons in their place. This is useful when rows or columns represent glycans and their structures are more informative than text labels.

ComplexHeatmap is a suggested package, so install it before using this vignette if necessary.

Label a heatmap with glycans

Pass one glycan structure for each row or column being labelled. The order of the structure vector must match the corresponding dimension of the matrix. anno_glycan() returns an annotation that can be used in rowAnnotation() or HeatmapAnnotation().

set.seed(123)
structures <- c(
  "GlcNAc(b1-",
  "Gal(b1-4)GlcNAc(b1-",
  "Neu5Ac(a2-?)Gal(b1-4)GlcNAc(b1-",
  "Fuc(a1-3)GlcNAc(b1-",
  "Gal(b1-4)[Fuc(a1-3)]GlcNAc(b1-",
  "Neu5Ac(a2-?)Gal(b1-4)[Fuc(a1-3)]GlcNAc(b1-"
)

mat <- matrix(
  rnorm(length(structures) * 5),
  nrow = length(structures),
  dimnames = list(NULL, paste0("Sample ", 1:5))
)

Here, the row labels appear on the left. Set show_row_names = FALSE because the cartoons replace the usual row names. The annotation follows the heatmap’s row order, so it remains attached to the right glycan after clustering, reordering, or splitting.

Heatmap(
  mat,
  name = "z-score",
  show_row_names = FALSE,
  left_annotation = rowAnnotation(
    glycan = anno_glycan(
      structures,
      which = "row",
      size = 0.2,
      show_linkage = FALSE
    )
  )
)

Use glycans as column labels

Column annotations work the same way. The default orientation is vertical for column labels and horizontal for row labels, with the reducing end anchoring each cartoon next to the heatmap. The side must be compatible with the annotation placement: use "top" or "bottom" for columns, and "left" or "right" for rows.

glycan_mat <- matrix(
  rnorm(length(structures) * 4),
  ncol = length(structures),
  dimnames = list(paste0("Feature ", 1:4), NULL)
)

Heatmap(
  glycan_mat,
  name = "abundance",
  show_column_names = FALSE,
  top_annotation = HeatmapAnnotation(
    glycan = anno_glycan(
      structures,
      which = "column",
      side = "top",
      size = 0.2,
      show_linkage = FALSE
    )
  )
)

Control the annotation appearance

The annotation accepts the same drawing controls that glycan scales use. size, angle, hjust, vjust, nudge_x, and nudge_y adjust placement; show_linkage, style, and red_end control the cartoons themselves. The required row width or column height is calculated automatically from the rendered cartoons. Supply a grid::unit() value only when you need a fixed annotation extent.

This example uses compact labels with linkage text suppressed, a wavy reducing end, and a right-side row annotation.

Heatmap(
  mat,
  name = "z-score",
  show_row_names = FALSE,
  right_annotation = rowAnnotation(
    glycan = anno_glycan(
      structures,
      which = "row",
      side = "right",
      orient = "right",
      size = 0.2,
      show_linkage = FALSE,
      style = style_glydraw(
        red_end = "~",
        node_size = 1.4,
        edge_linewidth = 1.2,
        node_linewidth = 1.2
      )
    )
  )
)

Keep labels aligned with the data

Create the annotation from the same vector used to construct the heatmap matrix. Do not reorder the structures manually to match a dendrogram: ComplexHeatmap supplies the final row or column indices to anno_glycan() when it draws each heatmap slice. This also preserves alignment when you use row_split, column_split, or explicit row and column orders.

For additional drawing options, see ?anno_glycan and the glydraw as a ggplot2 extension vignette.