RESUMO
We employed scRNA sequencing to extensively characterize the cellular landscape of human liver from development to disease. Analysis of â¼212,000 cells representing human fetal, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and mouse liver revealed remarkable fetal-like reprogramming of the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, the HCC ecosystem displayed features reminiscent of fetal development, including re-emergence of fetal-associated endothelial cells (PLVAP/VEGFR2) and fetal-like (FOLR2) tumor-associated macrophages. In a cross-species comparative analysis, we discovered remarkable similarity between mouse embryonic, fetal-liver, and tumor macrophages. Spatial transcriptomics further revealed a shared onco-fetal ecosystem between fetal liver and HCC. Furthermore, gene regulatory analysis, spatial transcriptomics, and in vitro functional assays implicated VEGF and NOTCH signaling in maintaining onco-fetal ecosystem. Taken together, we report a shared immunosuppressive onco-fetal ecosystem in fetal liver and HCC. Our results unravel a previously unexplored onco-fetal reprogramming of the tumor ecosystem, provide novel targets for therapeutic interventions in HCC, and open avenues for identifying similar paradigms in other cancers and disease.
Assuntos
Carcinoma Hepatocelular/patologia , Células Endoteliais/metabolismo , Microambiente Tumoral/genética , Adulto , Animais , Carcinoma Hepatocelular/genética , Linhagem Celular , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Células Endoteliais/patologia , Feminino , Receptor 2 de Folato/metabolismo , Perfilação da Expressão Gênica/métodos , Humanos , Fígado/patologia , Neoplasias Hepáticas/genética , Macrófagos/metabolismo , Masculino , Proteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Camundongos , Receptores Notch/genética , Receptores Notch/metabolismo , Transdução de Sinais/genética , Transcriptoma/genética , Receptor 2 de Fatores de Crescimento do Endotélio Vascular/metabolismoRESUMO
The mitotic kinesin KIF11 (also called Eg5) plays critical roles in spindle functions. Although a number of small-molecule inhibitors of KIF11 are currently in clinical development, drug-resistance could be developed through compensation by another kinesin called KIF15. Using a newly developed infrared-based cell system, we discovered that the effectiveness of one of the latest generations of KIF11 inhibitor (SB743921) could be enhanced with several inhibitors of Aurora A kinase. Evidence including live-cell imaging and isobologram analysis indicated that targeting KIF11 and Aurora A together promoted monoastral spindle formation and mitotic catastrophe synergistically, supporting a model of parallel pathways of centrosome regulation by Aurora A and KIF11. We also developed a KIF15-dependent SB743921-resistance cell model. Significantly, the drug-resistance could also be overcome with Aurora A inhibitors. These results provide a molecular basis for increasing the effectiveness of Aurora A and KIF11 inhibitors and tackling problems of drug resistance.