Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis reveals the distinct features of colorectal cancer with or without Fusobacterium nucleatum infection in PD-L1 blockade therapy

Abstract

MSS/pMMR patients are unresponsive to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade in colorectal cancer (CRC), but the mechanisms are unclear. A better understanding of immunotherapy resistance in CRC may lead to more precise treatment and expand the benefit of immunotherapy to patients. In this study, we constructed mouse model of subcutaneous CRC tumor received anti-PD-L1 treatment with or without fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) infection. Then we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to explore the comprehensive landscape of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Our data delineated the composition, subclonal diversity and putative function of distinct cells, tracked the developmental trajectory of tumor cells and highlighted cell-cell interactions. We found different compositions and functions of both tumor cells and immune cells. Single anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) treated tumor exhibited two specific clusters which might be resistant to PD-L1 blockade. The accumulation of immune cells, including T cell, NK cell and pro-inflammatory macrophage subset in tumors infected with F. nucleatum may be one of the reasons for the increased sensitivity to PD-L1 blockade. Thus, targeting F. nucleatum to change the composition of tumor cell subclusters and enliven the immune response might help to overcome immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) resistance.

Keywords

• Colorectal cancer
• Single-cell RNA sequencing
• PD-L1 blockade
• Fusobacterium nucleatum
• Immunotherapy