Cell Reports (Jun 2021)

Tumor vessel co-option probed by single-cell analysis

  • Laure-Anne Teuwen,
  • Laura P.M.H. De Rooij,
  • Anne Cuypers,
  • Katerina Rohlenova,
  • Sébastien J. Dumas,
  • Melissa García-Caballero,
  • Elda Meta,
  • Jacob Amersfoort,
  • Federico Taverna,
  • Lisa M. Becker,
  • Nuphar Veiga,
  • Anna Rita Cantelmo,
  • Vincent Geldhof,
  • Nadine V. Conchinha,
  • Joanna Kalucka,
  • Lucas Treps,
  • Lena-Christin Conradi,
  • Shawez Khan,
  • Tobias K. Karakach,
  • Stefaan Soenen,
  • Stefan Vinckier,
  • Luc Schoonjans,
  • Guy Eelen,
  • Steven Van Laere,
  • Mieke Dewerchin,
  • Luc Dirix,
  • Massimiliano Mazzone,
  • Yonglun Luo,
  • Peter Vermeulen,
  • Peter Carmeliet

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 35, no. 11
p. 109253

Abstract

Read online

Summary: Tumor vessel co-option is poorly understood, yet it is a resistance mechanism against anti-angiogenic therapy (AAT). The heterogeneity of co-opted endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes, co-opting cancer and myeloid cells in tumors growing via vessel co-option, has not been investigated at the single-cell level. Here, we use a murine AAT-resistant lung tumor model, in which VEGF-targeting induces vessel co-option for continued growth. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of 31,964 cells reveals, unexpectedly, a largely similar transcriptome of co-opted tumor ECs (TECs) and pericytes as their healthy counterparts. Notably, we identify cell types that might contribute to vessel co-option, i.e., an invasive cancer-cell subtype, possibly assisted by a matrix-remodeling macrophage population, and another M1-like macrophage subtype, possibly involved in keeping or rendering vascular cells quiescent.

Keywords