Astrocytic trans-differentiation completes a multicellular paracrine feedback loop required for medulloblastoma tumor growth

We report the application of RNA-sequencing technology for high-throughput profiling of tumor-associated microglia/macrophage (TAMs). First, we checked the purity of sample by qRT-PCR. We confirmed the high purity of TAMs with rare other cell type contamination. By profiling samples of TAMs purified from five individual medulloblastoma of mouse model, we find that TAMs maintain microglia gene signature even there are decrease of microglia genes and increase of macrophage genes. This study provides the evidence for the application of comprehensive gene profiling towards characterization of cellular origin of cell populations in tumor microenvironment. Overall design: Comparing the gene profile between tumor associated microglia/macrophage and normal microglia