Comprehensive transcriptomic profiles of non-small cell lung cancer by single-cell RNA-seq

Lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer death seriously threatening human health. The lung cancers display high heterogeneity in terms of pathology and molecular biomarkers. However, previous studies are mainly based on population of cancer cells due to technical limitations, which would conceal important information from rare single cells. Hence, using a modified STRT-seq technique, we profiled transcriptomes of over 9,000 single cells from 20 primary non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients diagnosed with stage I-IV. We identified major epithelial cell types, stroma cells and immune cells existed in lung, analyzed the differences between normal and tumor tissues and described the heterogeneity of intra- and inter-tumor tissues at single cell level. Furthermore, we analyzed the potential relationship of malignant epithelial cells, stroma cells and immune cells. In summary, our comprehensive analysis provided maps of transcriptomes characteristics of lung cancers and will be helpful for the prognosis and therapy of lung cancers. We collected tumor tissues and adjacent normal tissues from twenty patients diagnosed with stage I-IV NSCLC (non-small cell lung cancer). Then the isolated single cells were used for single-cell RNA-seq analysis. In parallel, the remaining cells from different tissues were subsequently used for bulk-cell whole genome sequencing. ***Authors state: 'According to our national policy on the protection of human genetic information, data related to human genetic information cannot be put on the international website'.