An oncogenic phenoscape of colonic stem cell polarization

Abstract

Cancer cells are regulated by oncogenic mutations and microenvironmental signals, yet these processes are often studied separately. To functionally map how cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic cues co-regulate cell fate, we performed a systematic single-cell analysis of 1,107 colonic organoid cultures regulated by (1) colorectal cancer (CRC) oncogenic mutations, (2) microenvironmental fibroblasts and macrophages, (3) stromal ligands, and (4) signaling inhibitors. Multiplexed single-cell analysis revealed a stepwise epithelial differentiation phenoscape dictated by combinations of oncogenes and stromal ligands, spanning from fibroblast-induced Clusterin (CLU)⁺ revival colonic stem cells (revCSCs) to oncogene-driven LRIG1⁺ hyper-proliferative CSCs (proCSCs). The transition from revCSCs to proCSCs is regulated by decreasing WNT3A and TGF-β-driven YAP signaling and increasing KRAS^G12D or stromal EGF/Epiregulin-activated MAPK/PI3K flux. We find that APC loss and KRAS^G12D collaboratively limit access to revCSCs and disrupt stromal-epithelial communication-trapping epithelia in the proCSC fate. These results reveal that oncogenic mutations dominate homeostatic differentiation by obstructing cell-extrinsic regulation of cell-fate plasticity.

Keywords: CRC; cell plasticity; cell-cell signaling; cell-fate polarization; colonic stem cell; colorectal cancer; cue-signal-response; organoid; single-cell analysis; tumor microenvironment.