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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.05.06.490972

Comparative single-cell transcriptomes of dose and time dependent epithelial-mesenchymal spectrums

Panchy, N.·Watanabe, K.·Takahashi, M.·Willems, A.·Hong, T.
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Abstract

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process involved in development and disease progression. Intermediate EMT states were observed in tumors and fibrotic tissues, but previous in vitro studies focused on time-dependent responses with single doses of signals; it was unclear whether single-cell transcriptomes support stable intermediates observed in diseases. Here, we performed single-cell RNA-sequencing with human mammary epithelial cells treated with multiple doses of TGF-{beta}. We found that dose-dependent EMT harbors multiple intermediate states at nearly steady state. Comparisons of dose- and time-dependent EMT transcriptomes revealed that the dose-dependent data enable higher sensitivity to detect genes associated EMT. We identified cell clusters unique to time-dependent EMT, reflecting cells en route to stable states. Combining dose- and time-dependent cell clusters gave rise to accurate prognosis for cancer patients. Our transcriptomic data and analyses uncover a stable EMT continuum at the single-cell resolution, and complementary information of two types of single-cell experiments.

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Panchy, N., Watanabe, K., Takahashi, M., Willems, A., Hong, T.. 2022-05-07. Comparative single-cell transcriptomes of dose and time dependent epithelial-mesenchymal spectrums. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.06.490972

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