High CD44 expression identifies a quiescent/chemoresistant leukemic population with enhanced E-Selectin binding in T-ALL

We used single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to decipher cell heterogeneity of human T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (M18) recovered from Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue (BMAT)-poor (Femur and Thoracic Vertebrae) and -rich (Tail Vertebrae) sites of xenografted immunodeficient mice (NSG,nonobese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficiency / interleukin-2R? null). We wanted to know whether some human T-ALL cells recovered in BMAT-poor sites resemble to those from BMAT-rich site. Overall design: hT-ALL cells recovered from Femur, Thoracic and Tail Vertebrae of xenograft immunodeficient mice were purified according to human CD45 expression through immuno magnetic selection and analyzed using scRNAseq.