Characterizing the tumor microenvironment at the single-cell level reveals a novel immune evasion mechanism in osteosarcoma.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 36596773.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41413-022-00237-6 and PMC identifier 9810605.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The immune microenvironment extensively participates in tumorigenesis as well as progression in osteosarcoma (OS). However, the landscape and dynamics of immune cells in OS are poorly characterized. By analyzing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data, which characterize the transcription state at single-cell resolution, we produced an atlas of the immune microenvironment in OS. The results suggested that a cluster of regulatory dendritic cells (DCs) might shape the immunosuppressive microenvironment in OS by recruiting regulatory T cells. We also found that major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules were downregulated in cancer cells. The findings indicated a reduction in tumor immunogenicity in OS, which can be a potential mechanism of tumor immune escape. Of note, CD24 was identified as a novel "don't eat me" signal that contributed to the immune evasion of OS cells. Altogether, our findings provide insights into the immune landscape of OS, suggesting that myeloid-targeted immunotherapy could be a promising approach to treat OS.