eLife (Oct 2022)

Revised International Staging System (R-ISS) stage-dependent analysis uncovers oncogenes and potential immunotherapeutic targets in multiple myeloma (MM)

  • Ling Zhong,
  • Peng Hao,
  • Qian Zhang,
  • Tao Jiang,
  • Huan Li,
  • Jialing Xiao,
  • Chenglong Li,
  • Lan Luo,
  • Chunbao Xie,
  • Jiang Hu,
  • Liang Wang,
  • Yuping Liu,
  • Yi Shi,
  • Wei Zhang,
  • Bo Gong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.75340
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

Multiple myeloma (MM) accounts for ~10% of all haematologic malignancies. Little is known about high intratumour heterogeneities in patients stratified by the Revised International Staging System (R-ISS). Herein, we constructed a single-cell transcriptome atlas to compare differential expression patterns among stages. We found that a novel cytotoxic plasma cell (PC) population exhibited with NKG7 positive was obviously enriched in stage II patients. Additionally, a malignant PC population with significantly elevated expression of MKI67 and PCNA was associated with unfavourable prognosis and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in our collected samples. Moreover, ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M2 (RRM2) was found and verified to promote proliferation of MM cell lines, suggesting RRM2 may serve as a detrimental marker in MM. The percentages of CD8+ T cells and NKT cells decreased along with R-ISS stages, reflecting the plasticity of the tumour immune microenvironment. Importantly, their crosstalks with myeloid cells and PC identified several potential immunotargets such as SIRPA-CD47 and CD74-MIF, respectively. Collectively, this study provided an R-ISS-related single-cell MM atlas and revealed the clinical significance of novel PC clusters, as well as potential immunotargets in MM progression.

Keywords