The role of bone marrow-derived cells in the origin of liver cancer revealed by single-cell sequencing

Objective:Epithelial cancers often originate from progenitor cells,while the origin of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is still controversial.HCC,one of the deadliest cancers,is closely linked with liver injuries and chronic inflammation,which trigger massive infiltration of bone marrow-derived cells(BMDCs)during liver repair.Methods:To address the possible roles of BMDCs in HCC origination,we established a diethylnitrosamine(DEN)-induced HCC model in bone marrow transplanted mice.Immunohistochemistry and frozen tissue immunofluorescence were used to verify DENinduced HCC in the pathology of the disease.The cellular origin of DEN-induced HCC was further studied by single cell sequencing,single-cell nested PCR,and immunofluorescence-fluorescence in situ hybridization.Results:Studies by using single cell sequencing and biochemical analysis revealed that HCC cells in these mice were coming from donor mice BMDCs,and not from recipient mice.Furthermore,the copy numbers of mouse orthologs of several HCC-related genes previously reported in human HCC were also altered in our mouse model.DEN-induced HCCs exhibited a similar histological phenotype and genomic profile as human HCCs.Conclusions:These results suggested that BMDCs are an important origin of HCC,which provide important clues to HCC prevention,detection,and treatments.

Single-cell DNA methylome analysis of circulating tumor cells

Objective: Previous investigations of circulating tumor cells(CTCs) have mainly focused on their genomic or transcriptomic features, leaving their epigenetic landscape relatively uncharacterized. Here, we investigated the genome-wide DNA methylome of CTCs with a view to understanding the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying cancer metastasis.Methods: We evaluated single-cell DNA methylome and copy number alteration(CNA) in 196 single cells,including 107 CTCs collected from 17 cancer patients covering six different cancer types. Our single-cell bisulfite sequencing(sc BS-seq) covered on average 11.78% of all Cp G dinucleotides and accurately deduced the CNA patterns at 500 kb resolution.Results: We report distinct subclonal structures and different evolutionary histories of CTCs inferred from CNA and DNA methylation profiles. Furthermore, we demonstrate potential tumor origin classification based on the tissue-specific DNA methylation profiles of CTCs.Conclusions: Our work provides a comprehensive survey of genome-wide DNA methylome in single CTCs and reveals 5-methylcytosine(5-m C) heterogeneity in CTCs, addressing the potential epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying cancer metastasis and facilitating the future clinical application of CTCs.

Single-cell profiling of the copy-number heterogeneity in colorectal cancer

Background:With functionally heterogeneous cells,tumors comprise a complex ecosystem to promote tumor adaptability and evolution under strong selective pressure from the given microenvironment.Diversifying tumor cells or intra-tumor heterogeneity is essential for tumor growth,invasion,and immune evasion.However,no reliable method to classify tumor cell subtypes is yet available.In this study,we introduced the single-cell sequencing combined with copy number characteristics to identify the types of tumor cells in microsatellite stable(MSS)colorectal cancer(CRC).Methods:To characterize the somatic copy number alteration(SCNA)of MSS CRC in a single cell profile,we analyzed 26 tissue samples from 19 Korean patients(GSE132465,the Samsung Medical Center[SMC]dataset)and then verified our findings with 15 tissue samples from five Belgian patients(GSE144735,the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 3[KUL3]dataset).The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)cohort,GSE39582 cohort,and National Cancer Center(NCC)cohort(24 MSS CRC patients were enrolled in this study between March 2017 and October 2017)were used to validate the clinical features of prognostic signatures.Results:We employed single cell RNA-sequencing data to identify three types of tumor cells in MSS CRC by their SCNA characteristics.Among these three types of tumor cells,C1 and C3 had a higher SCNA burden;C1 had significant chromosome 13 and 20 amplification,whereas C3 was the polar opposite of C1,which exhibited deletion in chromosome 13 and 20.The three types of tumor cells exhibited various functions in the tumor microenvironment and harbored different mutations.C1 and C2 were linked to the immune response and hypoxia,respectively,while C3 was critical for cell adhesion activity and tumor angiogenesis.Additionally,one gene(OLFM4)was identified as epithelium-specific biomarker of better prognosis of CRC(TCGA cohort:P=0.0110;GSE39582 cohort:P=0.0098;NCC cohort:P=0.0360).Conclusions:On the basis of copy number characteristics,we illustrated tumor heterogeneity in MSS CRC and identified three types of tumor cells with distinct roles in tumor microenvironment.By understanding heterogeneity in the intricate tumor microenvironment,we gained an insight into the mechanisms of tumor evolution,which may support the development of therapeutic strategies.

Improvement in the risk assessment of oral leukoplakia through morphology-related copy number analysis

Oral leukoplakia is the most common type of oral potentially malignant disorders and considered a precursor lesion to oral squamous cell carcinoma.However,a predictor of oral leukoplakia prognosis has not yet been identified.We investigated whether copy number alteration patterns may effectively predict the prognostic outcomes of oral leukoplakia using routinely processed paraffin sections.Comparison of copy number alteration patterns between oral leukoplakia with hyperplasia(HOL,n=22)and dysplasia(DOL,n=21)showed that oral leukoplakia with dysplasia had a higher copy number alteration rate(86%)than oral leukoplakia with hyperplasia(46%).Oral leukoplakia with dysplasia exhibited a wider range of genomic variations across all chromosomes compared with oral leukoplakia with hyperplasia.We also examined a retrospective cohort of 477 patients with oral leukoplakia with hyperplasia with detailed follow-up information.The malignant transformation(MT,n=19)and leukoplakia recurrence(LR,n=253)groups had higher frequencies of aneuploidy events and copy number loss rate than the free of disease(FD,n=205)group.Together,our results revealed the association between the degree of copy number alterations and the histological grade of oral leukoplakia and demonstrated that copy number alteration may be effective for prognosis prediction in oral leukoplakia patients with hyperplasia.

The genomics of desmoplastic small round cell tumor reveals the deregulation of genes related to DNA damage response, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and immune response

Background:Desmoplastic small round cell tumor(DSRCT)is a rare,aggressive,and poorly investigated simple sarcoma with a low frequency of genetic deregulation other than an Ewing sarcoma RNA binding protein 1(EWSR1)-Wilm’s tumor suppressor(WT1)translocation.We used whole-exome sequencing to interrogate six consecutive pretreated DSRCTs whose gene expression was previously investigated.Methods:DNA libraries were prepared from formalin-fixed,paraffin-embedded archival tissue specimens following the Agilent SureSelectXT2 target enrichment protocol and sequenced on Illumina NextSeq 500.Raw sequence data were aligned to the reference genome with Burrows-Wheeler Aligner algorithm.Somatic mutations and copy number alterations(CNAs)were identified using MuTect2 and EXCAVATOR2,respectively.Biological functions associated with altered genes were investigated through Ingenuity Pathway Analysis(IPA)software.Results:A total of 137 unique somatic mutations were identified:133 mutated genes were case-specific,and 2 were mutated in two cases but in different positions.Among the 135 mutated genes,27%were related to two biological categories:DNA damage-response(DDR)network that was also identified through IPA and mesenchymal-epithelial reverse transition(MErT)/epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)already demonstrated to be relevant in DSRCT.The mutated genes in the DDR network were involved in various steps of transcription and particularly affected pre-mRNA.Half of these genes encoded RNA-binding proteins or DNA/RNA-binding proteins,which were recently rec-ognized as a new class of DDR players.CNAs in genes/gene families,involved in MErT/EMT and DDR,were recurrent across patients and mostly segregated in the MErT/EMT category.In addition,recurrent gains of regions in chromosome 1 involving many MErT/EMT gene families and loss of one arm or the entire chromosome 6 affecting relevant immune-regulatory genes were recorded.Conclusions:The emerging picture is an extreme inter-tumor heterogeneity,characterized by the concurrent deregulation of the DDR and MErT/EMT dynamic and plastic programs that could favour genomic instability and explain the refractory DSRCT profile.

An Old Story Retold: Loss of G1 Control Defines A Distinct Genomic Subtype of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma （ESCC） has a high mortality rate. To determine the molecular basis of ESCC development, this study sought to identify characteristic genome-wide alterations in ESCC, including exonic mutations and structural alterations. The clinical implications of these genetic alterations were also analyzed. Exome sequencing and verification were performed for nine pairs of ESCC and the matched blood samples, followed by validation with additional sam- ples using Sanger sequencing. Whole-genomc SNP arrays were employed to detect copy number alteration （CNA） and loss of heterozygosity （LOH） in 55 cases, including the nine ESCC samples subjected to exome sequencing. A total of 108 non-synonymous somatic mutations （NSSMs） in 102 genes were verified in nine patients. The chromatin modification process was found to be enriched in our gene ontology （GO） analysis. Tumor genomes with TP53 mutations were signifi- cantly more unstable than those without TP53 mutations. In terms of the landscape of genomic alterations, deletion of 9p21.3 covering CDKN2A/2B （30.9%）, amplification of 1 1q13.3 covering CCND1 （30.9%）, and TP53 point mutation （50.9%） occurred in two-thirds of the cases. These results suggest that the deregulation of the G1 phase during the cell cycle is a key event in ESCC. Furthermore, six minimal common regions were found to be significantly altered in ESCC samples and three of them, 9p21.3, 7p 11.2, and 3p 12.1, were associated with lymph node metastasis. With the high correlation of TP53 mutation and genomic instability in ESCC, the amplification of CCND1, the deletion of CDKN2A/2B, and the somatic mutation of TP53 appear to play pivotal roles via G1 deregulation and therefore helps to classify this cancer into different genomic subtypes. These findings provide clinical significance that could be useful in future molecular diagnoses and therapeutic targeting.