Abstract 1587: Multi region single cell sequencing reveals dedifferentiation programs, angiogenic heterogeneity and the effect of microenvironmental hypoxia in ccRCC tumors
Authors: Lombardi Olivia , Li Ran , Browning Lisa , Ratcliffe Peter J. , Mole David R. 
Published: June 2022

Kidney cancer is the seventh most common malignancy in the Western world and 80% of these are clear cell renal cell cancers (ccRCC). ccRCC arises following inactivation of the VHL gene, which negatively regulates HIF (hypoxia-inducible factor) transcription factors. Therefore, in ccRCC, HIF is constitutively active and drives a gene expression program that is central to tumorigenesis. Whilst this is necessary for ccRCC formation, it is not sufficient, and other mutations must also occur in combination with VHL inactivation to drive ccRCC tumorigenesis. The mechanisms underlying their synergy with VHL inactivation remain poorly understood. These secondary driver mutations are often subclonal in nature, suggesting the presence of phenotypically distinct malignant cells within an individual tumor. This intratumor heterogeneity renders it difficult to study the functional impact of driver mutations in ccRCC by conventional ‘bulk’ analyses such as RNA-seq. Consequently, the molecular mechanisms underlying ccRCC initiation are not known. Furthermore, non-malignant stromal cells (including the vasculature and immune response) can support tumor growth, and little is known as to how they interact with malignant cells in ccRCC. This is particularly important since current therapeutic strategies in kidney cancer target the stromal compartment. Therefore, there is an unmet need to better-understand transcriptional heterogeneity and cellular diversity in ccRCC. To that end, we have sampled multiple regions from ccRCC tumors (and tumor-adjacent kidney tissue) and performed single cell RNA-seq (10x Genomics) on approximately 150,000 individual cells. These encompass malignant cells as well as non-malignant cells (including fibroblasts, endothelial cells, pericytes and immune cells), both of which exhibit pronounced transcriptional heterogeneity within and between tumors. Analysis of these transcriptomes has identified evolutionary gene expression programs underlying cancer cell dedifferentiation. In addition, we observe concurrent heterogeneity in angiogenic signaling between malignant cells and non-malignant blood vessel cells within these tumors. Lastly, we have explored the effect of microenvironmental hypoxia across different ccRCC tumor cell types. In summary, we present a single cell atlas derived from multi-region heterogenous ccRCC samples. This sheds light on the mechanisms underlying tumor evolution and progression, as well as angiogenic heterogeneity (which may contribute to the variable response to receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition) and the effect of hypoxia on ccRCC biology.

Citation Format: Olivia Lombardi, Ran Li, Lisa Browning, Peter J. Ratcliffe, David R. Mole. Multi region single cell sequencing reveals dedifferentiation programs, angiogenic heterogeneity and the effect of microenvironmental hypoxia in ccRCC tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1587.