Single cell RNA-seq reveals the landscape of tumor and infiltrating immune cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most malignant tumors in Southern China and southeast Asia, which is characterized by a dense lymphocyte infiltration and a poor prognosis. The emergence of single-cell sequencing represents a powerful tool to resolve tumor heterogeneity and delineate the complex communication among the tumor cells with neighboring stromal and immune cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we performed single cell RNA-seq and analyzed tumor cells together with the infiltrating immune cells from three NPC tumor tissues. In our study, the malignant cells display the intra- and inter-tumoral heterogeneity among the individual patients. Analysis of the immune cells reveal the heterogeneous composition of the distinct immune cells and the various functional states of T cells in NPC tumors. Additionally, coupled with the reconstruct of the T cell receptor (TCR) sequences from immune cells full-length single-cell sequence data, we identify the diverse T cell clonotypes and expansion distribution in individual tumors. Overall, we firstly reveal the landscape of tumor and infiltrating immune cells in nasopharyngeal cancer. These results provide deeper insights on the mechanisms of tumor clearance by immune cells in the surrounding microenvironment, which will be helpful in improving the targeted and immune therapies for NPC.

• Authors: Jin Zhao, Can Guo, Fang Xiong, Jianjun Yu, Junshang Ge, Hui Wang, Qianjin Liao, Yujuan Zhou, Qian Gong, Bo Xiang, Ming Zhou, Xiaoling Li, Guiyuan Li, Wei Xiong, Jian Fang, Zhaoyang Zeng
• Journal: Cancer letters (Cancer Lett) Vol. 477 Pg. 131-143 (05 01 2020) ISSN: 1872-7980 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 32061950 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
• Leukocyte Common Antigens
• PTPRC protein, human

Topics

• Epstein-Barr Virus Infections (complications)
• Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
• Humans
• Leukocyte Common Antigens (metabolism)
• Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating (immunology, pathology)
• Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (immunology, pathology, virology)
• Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms (immunology, pathology, virology)
• Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
• Sequence Analysis, RNA (methods)
• Single-Cell Analysis (methods)
• Tumor Microenvironment (immunology)