Systematic Growth Factor Profiling Platform for 3D Tumor Models Reveals EstradiolResponsive Cellular Mechanisms of Immunotherapy Resistance

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) exhibits significant molecular heterogeneity, which is thought to be influenced by the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, the specific factors driving this heterogeneity remain poorly understood. In this study, we integrated growth factoromics and genomic data to identify TME factors contributing to EOC heterogeneity and immunosuppression. Our analysis revealed distinct subgroups of EOC samples with differential responsiveness to specific growth factors, particularly estradiol and R-spondin. Notably, samples with high responsiveness to estradiol and Wnt (C1 cluster) were enriched in the Mesenchymal (MES) molecular subtype, while samples with high responsiveness to R-spondin (C2 cluster) were associated with the Differentiated (DIF) and Immunoreactive (IMR) subtypes. We discovered that the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), rather than the classical estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), was the key mediator of estrogen responsiveness and a determinant of molecular subtype classification. Single-cell sequencing analysis identified subsets of estrogen-responsive malignant cell (MAL.PDCD5) and cancer-associated fibroblast (FB.TNFSF10), which were associated with immunosuppressive patterns in the TCGA cohort. Importantly, the interaction between these cell populations significantly increased upon estrogen treatment, suggesting a potential mechanism by which estrogen signaling may contribute to the development of an immunosuppressive TME. Our findings highlight the critical role of estrogen signaling in shaping the molecular heterogeneity and immunosuppressive TME of EOC and provide novel insights into potential therapeutic targets for overcoming immunosuppression in this malignancy.

Type: Cancer Genomics
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

4 Datasets

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Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000000613	Tissue samples were collected from 18 ovarian cancer patients. After mechanical and enzymatic dissociation, a part of these tissues underwent growth factoromics analysis. For four cases, single-cell sequencing analysis was conducted under conditions with or without estradiol. Additionally, the remains of the tissues were frozen and subsequently subjected to bulk RNA-sequencing on 17 of these samples. Sixteen cases were diagnosed as HGSOC, while two samples were clear cell or mucinous type (Extended Data Table 1). All cases were grade 3, and none had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. - Group C1, Epithelial Ovarian Cancer(EOC) patients with estrogen responsiveness : 6 samples - Group C2, Epithelial Ovarian Cancer(EOC) patients with estrogen non-responsiveness : 10 samples - non-classified 1-sample	Illumina HiSeq 4000 Illumina NovaSeq X	17
EGAD50000002057	Tissue samples were collected from 18 ovarian cancer patients. After mechanical and enzymatic dissociation, a part of these tissues underwent growth factoromics analysis. For four cases, single-cell sequencing analysis was conducted under conditions with or without estradiol. Additionally, the remains of the tissues were frozen and subsequently subjected to exome sequencing on 16 of these samples. Sixteen cases were diagnosed as HGSOC, while two samples were clear cell or mucinous type (Extended Data Table 1). All cases were grade 3, and none had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.	Illumina NovaSeq 6000 Illumina NovaSeq X	25
EGAD50000002058	scRNAseq of ovarian cancer patient derived organoids with or without estradiol	unspecified	3
EGAD50000002059	bulkRNAseq of four ovarian cancer cell lines (PA-1, A2780, A2780/CP20, TOV-21G)	unspecified	5