Objective: To analyze the classification and functions of cell subsets in laryngeal carcinoma and metastatic lymph nodes, and to explore the evolution trajectory of epithelial cells to tumor cells. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on 5 cases of laryngeal cancer, matched metastatic lymph nodes and 3 normal tissues. Patients were admitted to Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital from October 22, 2019 to December 16, all patients were male, aged 53-70 years old. Cell subsets of the above-mentioned tissues were analyzed by the Seurat, and the biological functions of cell subpopulation were investigated by functional enrichment analysis. Malignant epithelial cells were identified using copy number variation (CNV). The evolutionary trajectory of epithelial cells to cancer cells was analyzed by cell trajectory analysis, and cancerous transitional cells were identified. The highly expressed genes in transitional cells were analyzed by the FindAllMarker of the Seurat and verified by immunohistochemistry. Results: A total of 66 969 high-quality cells were obtained in 9 major clusters: epithelial cells, T cells, B cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, myeloid cells, mast cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells and nerve cells. The first 5 cell clusters were divided into 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2 subgroups, respectively. Four epithelial cell subsets (C0, C1, C2 and C5) were derived from tumor tissues and metastatic lymph nodes, and had high levels of CNV and tumor cell content. Cell trajectory analysis showed that the evolution trajectory of epithelial cells was from normal epithelial subpopulation C4 to early cancerous cell population C0, which differentiated into three major malignant cell subsets C1, C3, and C5. Epithelial cell C0 may represent the transitional cell population of carcinogenesis, and were enriched in biological processes such as epithelial-mesenchymal transformation and angiogenesis. C0 highly expressed sulforaphane (SFN) which may be related to the occurrence and development of cancer. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that SFN was highly expressed in tumor tissues and metastatic lymph nodes compared with paracancerous tissues. Conclusion: Single-cell sequencing may be used to elucidate the diversity of cells and functions in laryngeal carcinoma tissues and metastatic lymph nodes, and cell population C0 plays a key role in the evolution of cells.
目的： 分析喉癌及转移淋巴结的细胞亚群分类及功能，探索上皮细胞向肿瘤细胞演化的轨迹。 方法： 对2019年10月22日至12月16日宁波市医疗中心李惠利医院收治的5例喉癌组织、配对的转移淋巴结及3例癌旁正常组织进行单细胞转录组测序，患者均为男性，年龄53~70岁，使用Seurat软件分析上述组织的细胞亚群，功能富集分析探讨各类细胞亚群的生物学功能。运用拷贝数变异（copy number variation，CNV）情况区分上皮细胞恶性与否，通过拟时序分析揭示正常上皮细胞和肿瘤细胞的演变轨迹，并识别癌变的过渡态细胞。经Seurat软件FindAllMarker函数分析得到过渡态细胞中高表达的基因，并用免疫组化进行验证。 结果： 通过多重质控，共获得66 969个高质量单细胞，分为9个主要细胞簇：上皮细胞、T细胞、B细胞、成纤维细胞、内皮细胞、髓系细胞、肥大细胞、浆细胞样树突状细胞和神经细胞，前5类细胞簇分别有8、6、4、3和2类亚群。4个上皮细胞亚群（C0、C1、C2、C5）来源于肿瘤组织和转移淋巴结，具有较高的CNV水平和肿瘤细胞含量。拟时序分析发现上皮细胞演变轨迹为正常上皮细胞亚群C4向早期癌变细胞群C0转化，C0继续分化为3个主要恶性肿瘤细胞亚群C1、C3和C5。上皮细胞C0可能代表癌变的过渡态细胞群，功能富集于上皮间质转化、血管生成等生物学过程，其高表达萝卜硫素（sulforaphane，SFN）可能与肿瘤发生发展相关。免疫组化验证发现SFN在肿瘤组织和转移淋巴结中高表达，而在癌旁组织中低表达。 结论： 本研究利用单细胞测序技术阐述了喉癌组织及转移淋巴结中细胞和功能的多样性，同时C0在肿瘤细胞演化中起到关键作用。.