Distinct niche structures and intrinsic programs of fallopian tube and ovarian surface epithelial cells

Guyu Qin; Eun-Sil Park; Xueqing Chen; Sen Han; Dongxi Xiang; Fang Ren; Gang Liu; Huidong Chen; Guo-Cheng Yuan; Zhe Li

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105861

Distinct niche structures and intrinsic programs of fallopian tube and ovarian surface epithelial cells

iScience. 2022 Dec 22;26(1):105861. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105861. eCollection 2023 Jan 20.

Authors

Guyu Qin^{1

2}, Eun-Sil Park^{1

2}, Xueqing Chen^{1

2}, Sen Han^{1

2}, Dongxi Xiang^{1

2}, Fang Ren¹, Gang Liu¹, Huidong Chen³, Guo-Cheng Yuan³, Zhe Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
³ Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Abstract

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) can originate from either fallopian tube epithelial (FTE) or ovarian surface epithelial (OSE) cells, but with different latencies and disease outcomes. To address the basis of these differences, we performed single cell RNA-sequencing of mouse cells isolated from the distal half of fallopian tube (FT) and surface layer of ovary. We find at the molecular level, FTE secretory stem/progenitor cells and OSE cells resemble mammary luminal progenitors and basal cells, respectively. An FT stromal subpopulation, enriched with Pdgfra ⁺ and Esr1 ⁺ cells, expresses multiple secreted factor (e.g., IGF1) and Hedgehog pathway genes and may serve as a niche for FTE cells. In contrast, Lgr5 ⁺ OSE cells express similar genes largely by themselves, raising a possibility that they serve as their own niche. The differences in intrinsic expression programs and niche organizations of FTE and OSE cells may contribute to their different courses toward the development of EOCs.

Keywords: Biological sciences; Cell biology; Molecular biology; Transcriptomics.