Abstract 6924: Structural variant dynamics in melanoma: Unraveling tumor heterogeneity and evolution
Authors: Cui Xiwen , Keskus Ayse G. , Mehrabadi Farid R. , Malikic Salem , Kolmogorov Mikhail , Day Chi-Ping , Merlino Glenn , Sahinalp S. Cenk 
Published: March 2024

Melanoma is characterized by significant intratumoral heterogeneity and complex evolutionary dynamics. This diversity in genomic alterations leads to the emergence of various subclonal populations within a single tumor. In our research, we established a new model system composed of 24 single-cell-derived clonal sublines (C1-C24), originating from the M4 melanoma model. This model was developed using a genetically engineered hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)-transgenic mouse. We employed Trisicell (Triple-toolkit for single-cell intratumor heterogeneity inference), a cutting-edge computational tool for scalable analysis of intratumor heterogeneity and evaluation based on single-cell RNA mutations. This enabled us to construct a phylogeny tree, revealing melanoma’s intricate branching evolutionary patterns. These patterns show ancestral clones evolving into genetically distinct subclones, which demonstrate varied phenotypic traits such as drug sensitivity or resistance, cellular plasticity, and immunogenicity. In our study, we conducted long-read sequencing on these clonal sublines in the phylogeny and identified structural variants (SVs) using Severus, a tool optimized for phasing in long-read sequencing. The types of SVs we discovered include deletions, insertions, amplifications, translocations, and inversions. We explored their roles in subclonal evolution, particularly focusing on how they disrupt genes and accumulate during melanoma progression. Our initial data from eleven sublines indicated a higher prevalence of ancestral SVs, shared by all sublines, compared to subline-specific SVs, representing later events. Notably, the individual sublines showed a higher rate of gene disruption by SVs, hinting at potential functional selection. Our analysis further revealed that SVs common to all sublines are linked with genes in key cell growth pathways, such as Rap1, Hippo, and calcium signaling pathways. In contrast, subline-specific SVs primarily affect genes involved in neurophysiological pathways, such as glutamatergic synapse and morphine addiction pathways. These findings suggest that different genes, associated with various pathways, are disrupted at distinct stages of melanoma progression, providing insights into the genetic factors that may predispose individual melanocytes to melanomagenesis. This methodology presents a comprehensive tool for characterizing tumor genomes and understanding their relationship with disease progression and therapy resistance. We are continuing our analysis to map SVs across the entire mutation-based phylogeny of all sublines, which will further our understanding of melanoma’s genomic landscape.

Citation Format: Xiwen Cui, Ayse G. Keskus, Farid R. Mehrabadi, Salem Malikic, Mikhail Kolmogorov, Chi-Ping Day, Glenn Merlino, S. Cenk Sahinalp. Structural variant dynamics in melanoma: Unraveling tumor heterogeneity and evolution [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6924.