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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Oct;165(4):891-908.e14.
doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2023.05.036. Epub 2023 May 30.

Spatially Resolved Multi-Omics Single-Cell Analyses Inform Mechanisms of Immune Dysfunction in Pancreatic Cancer

Suhail Yousuf  1 , Mengjie Qiu  1 , Lena Voith von Voithenberg  2 , Johannes Hulkkonen  1 , Igor Macinkovic  3 , Axel R Schulz  4 , Domenic Hartmann  1 , Florian Mueller  5 , Margarete Mijatovic  3 , David Ibberson  6 , Karam T AlHalabi  1 , Jenny Hetzer  5 , Simon Anders  7 , Bernhard Brüne  8 , Henrik E Mei  4 , Charles D Imbusch  2 , Benedikt Brors  2 , Mathias Heikenwälder  5 , Matthias M Gaida  9 , Markus W Büchler  1 , Andreas Weigert  8 , Thilo Hackert  1 , Susanne Roth  10
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Free article
Meta-Analysis

Spatially Resolved Multi-Omics Single-Cell Analyses Inform Mechanisms of Immune Dysfunction in Pancreatic Cancer

Suhail Yousuf et al. Gastroenterology. 2023 Oct.
Free article

Abstract

Background & aims: As pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) continues to be recalcitrant to therapeutic interventions, including poor response to immunotherapy, albeit effective in other solid malignancies, a more nuanced understanding of the immune microenvironment in PDAC is urgently needed. We aimed to unveil a detailed view of the immune micromilieu in PDAC using a spatially resolved multimodal single-cell approach.

Methods: We applied single-cell RNA sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, multiplex immunohistochemistry, and mass cytometry to profile the immune compartment in treatment-naïve PDAC tumors and matched adjacent normal pancreatic tissue, as well as in the systemic circulation. We determined prognostic associations of immune signatures and performed a meta-analysis of the immune microenvironment in PDAC and lung adenocarcinoma on single-cell level.

Results: We provided a spatially resolved fine map of the immune landscape in PDAC. We substantiated the exhausted phenotype of CD8 T cells and immunosuppressive features of myeloid cells, and highlighted immune subsets with potentially underappreciated roles in PDAC that diverged from immune populations within adjacent normal areas, particularly CD4 T cell subsets and natural killer T cells that are terminally exhausted and acquire a regulatory phenotype. Differential analysis of immune phenotypes in PDAC and lung adenocarcinoma revealed the presence of extraordinarily immunosuppressive subtypes in PDAC, along with a distinctive immune checkpoint composition.

Conclusions: Our study sheds light on the multilayered immune dysfunction in PDAC and presents a holistic view of the immune landscape in PDAC and lung adenocarcinoma, providing a comprehensive resource for functional studies and the exploration of therapeutically actionable targets in PDAC.

Keywords: Lung Cancer; Pancreatic Cancer; Single-Cell Multi-Omics; Tumor Immunology.

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