Cellular landscape of adrenocortical carcinoma at single-nuclei resolution

Author:

Tourigny David S.ORCID,Altieri Barbara,Secener Kerim A.,Sbiera Silviu,Schauer Marc P.,Arampatzi Panagiota,Herterich Sabine,Sauer Sascha,Fassnacht MartinORCID,Ronchi Cristina L.

Abstract

AbstractAdrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare yet devastating tumour of the adrenal gland with a molecular pathology that remain incompletely understood. To gain novel insights into the cellular landscape of ACC, we generated single-nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) data sets from twelve ACC tumour samples and analysed these alongside a previously published snRNA-seq data set from normal adrenal glands (NAGs). We find the ACC tumour microenvironment to be relatively devoid of immune cells compared to NAG tissues, consistent with known high tumour purity values for ACC as an immunologically “cold” tumour. Our analysis identifies three separate groups of ACC samples that are characterised by different relative compositions of adrenocortical cell types, including two populations (ACC 1 and ACC 2) that are specifically enriched in the most aggressive tumours and display hallmarks of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and dysregulated steroidogenesis, respectively. In addition to cell types associated with hypoxic and metabolic signatures (ACC 3 and ACC 4) prevalent among less-aggressive tumours, we also identified and validated a population of mitotically active adrenocortical cells (ACC M) strongly overexpressing genesPOLQandDIAPH3that possibly supports the expansion of malignant cell lineages. The smallest identified ACC specific cell type, ACC 5, displays characteristics of increased proliferation and growth factor signalling, and is therefore a potential progenitor-like or cell-of-origin candidate for the different lineages involved in adrenocortical carcinogenesis. Intriguingly, linage tracing suggests the fate adopted by malignant adrenocortical cells upon differentiation appears to be at least partly associated with the copy number or allelic balance state of the imprintedDLK1/MEG3genomic locus, which we verified by assessing DNA methylation status among samples from the three groups of tumours defined by their different cell type compositions. Our results therefore provide new insights into the cellular heterogeneity of ACC, indicating that genetic perturbations to a hierarchical cellular differentiation mechanism underlying healthy adrenocortical renewal and zonation may explain the molecular basis for disease pathogenesis.

Publisher

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3