解析头颈部癌症微环境:单细胞和空间转录组学揭示人乳头瘤病毒相关差异。
Deciphering head and neck cancer microenvironment: Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics reveals human papillomavirus-associated differences.
机构信息
Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University, Yangsan, South Korea.
Data Science Center, Insilicogen, Inc., Yongin-si, South Korea.
出版信息
J Med Virol. 2024 Jan;96(1):e29386. doi: 10.1002/jmv.29386.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a major causative factor of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and the incidence of HPV associated HNSCC is increasing. The role of tumor microenvironment in viral infection and metastasis needs to be explored further. We studied the molecular characteristics of primary tumors (PTs) and lymph node metastatic tumors (LNMTs) by stratifying them based on their HPV status. Eight samples for single-cell RNA profiling and six samples for spatial transcriptomics (ST), composed of matched primary tumors (PT) and lymph node metastases (LNMT), were collected from both HPV negative (HPV ) and HPV-positive (HPV ) patients. Using the 10x Genomics Visium platform, integrative analyses with single-cell RNA sequencing were performed. Intracellular and intercellular alterations were analyzed, and the findings were confirmed using experimental validation and publicly available data set. The HPV tissues were composed of a substantial amount of lymphoid cells regardless of the presence or absence of metastasis, whereas the HPV tissue exhibited remarkable changes in the number of macrophages and plasma cells, particularly in the LNMT. From both single-cell RNA and ST data set, we discovered a central gene, pyruvate kinase muscle isoform 1/2 (PKM2), which is closely associated with the stemness of cancer stem cell-like populations in LNMT of HPV tissue. The consistent expression was observed in HPV HNSCC cell line and the knockdown of PKM2 weakened spheroid formation ability. Furthermore, we found an ectopic lymphoid structure morphology and clinical effects of the structure in ST slide of the HPV patients and verified their presence in tumor tissue using immunohistochemistry. Finally, the ephrin-A (EPHA2) pathway was detected as important signals in angiogenesis for HPV patients from single-cell RNA and ST profiles, and knockdown of EPHA2 declined the cell migration. Our study described the distinct cellular composition and molecular alterations in primary and metastatic sites in HNSCC patients based on their HPV status. These results provide insights into HNSCC biology in the context of HPV infection and its potential clinical implications.
人乳头瘤病毒(HPV)是头颈部鳞状细胞癌(HNSCC)的主要致病因素,HPV 相关 HNSCC 的发病率正在上升。肿瘤微环境在病毒感染和转移中的作用需要进一步探索。我们通过 HPV 状态对原发肿瘤(PT)和淋巴结转移瘤(LNMT)进行分层,研究了它们的分子特征。从 HPV 阴性(HPV-)和 HPV 阳性(HPV+)患者中收集了 8 个用于单细胞 RNA 分析和 6 个用于空间转录组学(ST)的样本,这些样本由匹配的原发肿瘤(PT)和淋巴结转移(LNMT)组成。使用 10x Genomics Visium 平台,对单细胞 RNA 测序进行了综合分析。分析了细胞内和细胞间的改变,并使用实验验证和公开可用数据集进行了验证。无论是否存在转移,HPV 组织中都包含大量的淋巴细胞,而 HPV 组织中巨噬细胞和浆细胞的数量发生了显著变化,尤其是在 LNMT 中。从单细胞 RNA 和 ST 数据集,我们发现了一个核心基因,即丙酮酸激酶肌肉同工型 1/2(PKM2),它与 HPV 组织中 LNMT 中癌症干细胞样群体的干性密切相关。在 HPV HNSCC 细胞系中观察到一致的表达,并且敲低 PKM2 削弱了球体形成能力。此外,我们在 HPV 患者的 ST 切片中发现了一个异位淋巴结构形态,并验证了其在肿瘤组织中的存在,使用免疫组织化学方法。最后,在单细胞 RNA 和 ST 图谱中,我们检测到 EphA 受体(EPHA2)途径是 HPV 患者血管生成的重要信号,并且 EPHA2 的敲低会降低细胞迁移。我们的研究根据 HPV 状态描述了 HNSCC 患者原发和转移部位的不同细胞组成和分子改变。这些结果为 HPV 感染背景下的 HNSCC 生物学提供了深入的了解,并具有潜在的临床意义。