Frontiers in immunology
Identification of a novel inflammatory mast cell subpopulation in triple-negative breast cancer
Door Li Z, Wu Z, Zeng L en 21 anderen.
Inhoud in het Engels
Abstract
Background
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is associated with poor therapeutic outcomes, and increasing attention has been directed toward the tumor microenvironment (TME). Mast cells are an important component of the TME, yet their heterogeneity and functional roles in TNBC remain incompletely understood.
Methods
Single-cell RNA sequencing data of TNBC were analyzed using the Seurat pipeline. Mast cells were extracted and re-clustered, and the subpopulations were characterized by functional enrichment, transcription factor, pseudotime, drug sensitivity, and cell-cell communication analyses. The role of the inflammatory subpopulation was further examined using an in silico virtual knockout approach and validated in a 4T1 subcutaneous tumor model in BALB/c mice.