Defining cellular population dynamics at single-cell resolution during prostate cancer progression. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Advanced prostate malignancies are a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men, in large part due to our incomplete understanding of cellular drivers of disease progression. We investigate prostate cancer cell dynamics at single-cell resolution from disease onset to the development of androgen independence in an in vivo murine model. We observe an expansion of a castration-resistant intermediate luminal cell type that correlates with treatment resistance and poor prognosis in human patients. Moreover, transformed epithelial cells and associated fibroblasts create a microenvironment conducive to pro-tumorigenic immune infiltration, which is partially androgen responsive. Androgen-independent prostate cancer leads to significant diversification of intermediate luminal cell populations characterized by a range of androgen signaling activity, which is inversely correlated with proliferation and mRNA translation. Accordingly, distinct epithelial populations are exquisitely sensitive to translation inhibition, which leads to epithelial cell death, loss of pro-tumorigenic signaling, and decreased tumor heterogeneity. Our findings reveal a complex tumor environment largely dominated by castration-resistant luminal cells and immunosuppressive infiltrates.

publication date

  • December 13, 2022

Research

keywords

  • Androgens
  • Prostatic Neoplasms

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC9747158

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85144163239

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.4049/jimmunol.1100558

PubMed ID

  • 36511483

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 11