Clonal Evolution and Transcriptional Plasticity Shape Metastatic Dissemination Routes in Prostate Cancer

This study provides comprehensive insights into the genetic and transcriptomic landscape of prostate cancer, highlighting significant clonal heterogeneity, transcriptional plasticity, and metastatic spread patterns. We examined the clonal evolution and metastatic dissemination of prostate cancer by integrating single-nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) and low-pass whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 43 spatially distinct tumour samples in five patients with locally advanced disease. By reconstructing the evolutionary trajectories of each tumour, we identified distinct patterns of tumour evolution, including both monophyletic and polyphyletic metastatic dissemination, as well as ongoing primary tumour clonal evolution after metastatic spread. We observed converging changes leading to metastatic potential, such as androgen receptor independence and increased activity in the estrogen, WNT, and JAK/STAT pathways in identified seeding areas. These findings enhance our understanding of the disease's progression and may inform future therapeutic strategies.

Type: Transcriptome Sequencing
Archiver: European Genome-Phenome Archive (EGA)

1 Dataset

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Dataset ID	Description	Technology	Samples
EGAD50000001357	This study investigates the clonal evolution and metastatic dissemination of prostate cancer using multiregional single-nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) and low-pass whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 43 spatially distinct tumor areas in five patients with locally advanced prostate cancer, including both primary and regional lymph node samples. We employed the Chromium Next GEM Single Cell 3’ Kit (v3/3.1, 10x Genomics) for single-nuclei transcriptome profiling and constructed bulk WGS libraries using the NEBNext Ultra II FS DNA Library Prep Kit (New England Biolabs) from the same pool of nuclei extracted from each area. snRNA-seq data were aligned to the human genome (GRCh38-1.2.0_premrna) using 10x Genomics Cell Ranger v5.0.0, while WGS reads were aligned to the human reference genome (GRCh38) with BWA MEM, achieving an average sequencing depth of 0.3X for low-pass WGS and 16X after resequencing.	Illumina NovaSeq 6000 NextSeq 500	43