Single-cell RNA-seq of pediatric ependymoma

Despite extensively growing knowledge on the molecular biology of ependymoma, effective treatments are still lacking for about half patients with high-risk tumors. By applying single cell RNA-sequencing, we comprehensively identify a cellular hierarchy within ependymoma spanning undifferentiated and differentiated tumor cell states across all major molecular groups. This not only refines the concept of these established molecular groups but moreover provides a biological context for the well-known capacity of aggressive ependymomas for late recurrence and treatment resistance. Our newly defined transcriptomic signatures also prove to be of prognostic relevance within established high-risk ependymoma groups. Consequently, the newly characterized cell states could serve as promising future therapeutic targets and biomarkers for clinical trials. Single-cell RNA-seq: Smart-seq2 of 22 ependymoma cases and 10X data of 6 ependymoma cases Raw Fastq files can be requested at DUOS (https://duos.broadinstitute.org/) under the dataset ID: DUOS-000120