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Stage-specific transcriptomics of a leader cell reveals cell machineries driving collective invasion

ABSTRACT: Collective cell invasion underlies organ development, epithelial repair, and cancer metastasis. “Leader cells” remodel extracellular matrix, sense guidance cues, reorganize their cytoskeleton, and coordinate follower cells, but the molecular programs enabling these functions remain unclear. Here, we present a stage-specific transcriptomic dataset of the C. elegans gonadal leader cell, the distal tip cell (DTC), which invades basement membrane and guides germ cells to form U-shaped gonadal arms. Comparing invasive larval-stage DTCs with non-invasive adult-stage DTCs defines the molecular signature of an actively invading leader cell in vivo. Our dataset recapitulates known regulators of gonad morphogenesis and reveals numerous uncharacterized genes with potential roles in leader cell activity. Demonstrating dataset utility, we identify vesicular trafficking proteins enriched in invading DTCs, and demonstrate their importance for gonad development using endogenous tagging and DTC-specific RNAi. We also catalog diverse DTC-specific knockdown phenotypes. This resource establishes a molecular framework for leader cell activity and a platform to investigate conserved mechanisms of invasive migration.

ORGANISM(S): Caenorhabditis elegans

PROVIDER: GSE317790 | GEO | 2026/02/04

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The aim of this study was to establish a single-cell array comparative genomic hybridization (SCaCGH) method providing in-depth genomic analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). The robustness and resolution limits of the method were estimated with different cell amounts of the breast cancer cell line SKBR3 using 44k and 244k arrays. Subsequent adjustments of the method were conducted analyzing the copy number profiles of 28 CTCs in combination with four hematopoietic cell (HC) controls from eight metastatic patients and of 24 DTCs, three probable HCs, and five HC controls from seven breast cancer patients and one healthy donor. The frequency of the major genomic gains and losses of the analyzed DTC revealed similarities to primary breast tumor samples with some evident differences. Three of the patients had available profiles for DTC and the corresponding primary tumor. In 2/3 of the examined DTCs, equivalent genomic changes and common aberration breakpoints were disclosed, both to each other and to the corresponding primary tumors. Interestingly, similar copy number changes were found in DTCs taken at time of diagnosis or in DTCs collected at 3-years relapse-free follow up. Residual immunomorphological characterized tumor cells showed balanced profiles with only minor aberrations. Three cells with unclear morphological identification showed either balanced profiles (n=2) or aberrations comparable to the primary tumor and DTC (n=1). SCaCGH may be a powerful tool for molecular characterisation of immunostained and morphological identified CTCs and DTCs to explore the malignant potential, therapeutic targets and tumor heterogeneity of single tumor cells. 24 DTCs, 3 probable HCs, and 5 HCs from 7 early-stage breast cancer patients, 28 CTCs and 4 HCs from 8 metastatic breast cancer patients, and 1 healthy donor were analysed. Comparison with the primary tumor was done in 3 patients. The reference for the patients was DNA from multiple anonymous female donors. This submission does not include the SKBR3 data obtained from the 44k array.

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Stage-specific transcriptomics of a leader cell reveals cell machineries driving collective invasion

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