Multi-omic analysis of gallbladder cancer identifies distinct tumor microenvironments associated with disease progression

Abstract

Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) is the most aggressive biliary tract cancer and is associated with a high mortality rate. Treatment of GBC faces therapeutic challenges owing to the elusive nature of in situ drivers within the local tumor microenvironment that drive its progression. Here, we created a single-cell atlas of 1,117,245 cells and a mutational landscape from 102 patients, which unveiled spatial–temporal characterizations of cellular constitutions, spatial interplays and molecular functions, and generalized five local ecosystems stratifying clinical outcomes. An integrated epithelial program, AI-EPI, combined with spatial transcriptome analysis, revealed the concurrent localization of a highly malignant tumor subtype (GM16) and AREG⁺ T cell, B cell, dendritic cell and macrophage subtypes within the pro-metastatic niche of primary adenocarcinomas. In vitro and in vivo experiments suggest that in addition to promoting metastasis, AREG facilitates CXCL5 expression in tumor cells through EGFR–pERK–EGR1 signaling, leading to increased neutrophil infiltration and impeding the effectiveness of immunotherapy. Our study provides a spatial–temporal landscape of the GBC microenvironment and sheds light on potential strategies for preventing immunotherapy resistance.