Nature Communications (Jan 2024)

Epigenetic reprogramming shapes the cellular landscape of schwannoma

  • S. John Liu,
  • Tim Casey-Clyde,
  • Nam Woo Cho,
  • Jason Swinderman,
  • Melike Pekmezci,
  • Mark C. Dougherty,
  • Kyla Foster,
  • William C. Chen,
  • Javier E. Villanueva-Meyer,
  • Danielle L. Swaney,
  • Harish N. Vasudevan,
  • Abrar Choudhury,
  • Joanna Pak,
  • Jonathan D. Breshears,
  • Ursula E. Lang,
  • Charlotte D. Eaton,
  • Kamir J. Hiam-Galvez,
  • Erica Stevenson,
  • Kuei-Ho Chen,
  • Brian V. Lien,
  • David Wu,
  • Steve E. Braunstein,
  • Penny K. Sneed,
  • Stephen T. Magill,
  • Daniel Lim,
  • Michael W. McDermott,
  • Mitchel S. Berger,
  • Arie Perry,
  • Nevan J. Krogan,
  • Marlan R. Hansen,
  • Matthew H. Spitzer,
  • Luke Gilbert,
  • Philip V. Theodosopoulos,
  • David R. Raleigh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40408-5
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15, no. 1
pp. 1 – 19

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Mechanisms specifying cancer cell states and response to therapy are incompletely understood. Here we show epigenetic reprogramming shapes the cellular landscape of schwannomas, the most common tumors of the peripheral nervous system. We find schwannomas are comprised of 2 molecular groups that are distinguished by activation of neural crest or nerve injury pathways that specify tumor cell states and the architecture of the tumor immune microenvironment. Moreover, we find radiotherapy is sufficient for interconversion of neural crest schwannomas to immune-enriched schwannomas through epigenetic and metabolic reprogramming. To define mechanisms underlying schwannoma groups, we develop a technique for simultaneous interrogation of chromatin accessibility and gene expression coupled with genetic and therapeutic perturbations in single-nuclei. Our results elucidate a framework for understanding epigenetic drivers of tumor evolution and establish a paradigm of epigenetic and metabolic reprograming of cancer cells that shapes the immune microenvironment in response to radiotherapy.