Cell Reports (Oct 2024)

NBAtlas: A harmonized single-cell transcriptomic reference atlas of human neuroblastoma tumors

  • Noah Bonine,
  • Vittorio Zanzani,
  • Annelies Van Hemelryk,
  • Bavo Vanneste,
  • Christian Zwicker,
  • Tinne Thoné,
  • Sofie Roelandt,
  • Sarah-Lee Bekaert,
  • Jan Koster,
  • Isabelle Janoueix-Lerosey,
  • Cécile Thirant,
  • Stéphane Van Haver,
  • Stephen S. Roberts,
  • Liselot M. Mus,
  • Bram De Wilde,
  • Nadine Van Roy,
  • Celine Everaert,
  • Frank Speleman,
  • Vanessa Vermeirssen,
  • Charlotte L. Scott,
  • Katleen De Preter

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 43, no. 10
p. 114804

Abstract

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Summary: Neuroblastoma, a rare embryonic tumor arising from neural crest development, is responsible for 15% of pediatric cancer-related deaths. Recently, several single-cell transcriptome studies were performed on neuroblastoma patient samples to investigate the cell of origin and tumor heterogeneity. However, these individual studies involved a small number of tumors and cells, limiting the conclusions that could be drawn. To overcome this limitation, we integrated seven single-cell or single-nucleus datasets into a harmonized cell atlas covering 362,991 cells across 61 patients. We use this atlas to decipher the transcriptional landscape of neuroblastoma at single-cell resolution, revealing associations between transcriptomic profiles and clinical outcomes within the tumor compartment. In addition, we characterize the complex immune-cell landscape and uncover considerable heterogeneity among tumor-associated macrophages. Finally, we showcase the utility of our atlas as a resource by expanding it with additional data and using it as a reference for data-driven cell-type annotation.

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