Colorectal Cancer Stem Cell States Uncovered by Simultaneous Single-Cell Analysis of Transcriptome and Telomeres.

ABSTRACT: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) presumably contribute to tumor progression and drug resistance, yet their definitive features have remained elusive. Here, simultaneous measurement of telomere length and transcriptome in the same cells enables systematic assessment of CSCs in primary colorectal cancer (CRC). The in-depth transcriptome profiled by SMART-seq2 is independently validated by high-throughput scRNA-seq using 10 × Genomics. It is found that rare CSCs exist in dormant state and display plasticity toward cancer epithelial cells (EPCs) that essentially are presumptive tumor-initiating cells (TICs), while both retaining the prominent signaling pathways including WNT, TGF-β, and HIPPO/YAP. Moreover, CSCs exhibit chromosome copy number variation (CNV) pattern resembling cancer EPCs but d

SUBMITTER: Wang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8061397 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature