Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China; Graduate School of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
Fujun Yang
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Shilan Luo
Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Xiang Li
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Zhan Gu
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Rui Fan
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Yajuan Cao
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China; Corresponding author
Lixin Wang
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China; Corresponding author
Xiao Song
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Brain metastases (BM) of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) are the most common intracranial malignancy leading to death. However, the cellular origins and drivers of BM from LUAD have not been clarified. Cellular composition was characterized by single-cell sequencing analysis of primary lung adenocarcinoma (pLUAD), BM and lymph node metastasis (LNM) samples in GSE131907. Our study briefly analyzed the tumor microenvironment (TME), focusing on the role of epithelial cells (ECs) in BM. We have discovered a population of brain metastasis-associated epithelial cells (BMAECs) expressing SPP1, SAA1, and CDKN2A, and it has been observed that this population is mainly composed of aneuploid cells from pLUAD, playing a crucial role in brain metastasis. Our study concluded that both LNM and BM in LUAD originated from pLUAD lesions, but there is currently insufficient evidence to prove a direct association between BM lesions and LNM lesions, which provides inspiration for further investigation of the TME in BM.
