Single cell RNA-seq of brain glioblastoma samples

Glioblastomas (GBM) are the most aggressive type of brain tumors with a dismal prognosis. The effectiveness of anti-tumor drugs is thwarted by brain endothelial cells (ECs) in the tumor microenvironment. However, the characteristics of ECs remains poorly inventoried at the single-cell level. We performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) for ECs from 4 GBMs and matching non-malignant brain samples, and identified distinct EC phenotypes in GBM. Overall design: We profiled freshly isolated cells from tumor core and paired surrounding peripheral tissue in 4 glioblastoma patients. Single-cell suspensions, magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) enriched for CD31+ cells, were subjected to scRNA-seq using a 10X genomics-based single-cell protocol.