Spatial transcriptomics mapping of immune cell and TGFβ signalling pathway heterogeneity in testicular germ cell tumours.

Abstract

Background: Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) are amongst the most common malignancies in young men, and their incidence is increasing worldwide. Tissue heterogeneity hampers efforts to understand how TGCT precursors (termed germ cell neoplasia in situ; GCNIS) emerge and progress, restricting elucidation of new strategies for diagnosis and management.

Objectives: This study reports the use of spatial transcriptomic analysis in TGCT tissue sections.

Materials and methods: Over 90 regions of interest (ROIs) were identified in sections from four TGCT patients' samples, three with non-seminoma, one seminoma. Transcripts in each ROI were sequenced and examined using the NanoString GeoMx spatial whole transcriptomics workflow, the values normalised and analysed using Degust RNA-Seq and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software.

Results: The distribution and expression of functional markers in specific cell types was used to map individual tumours, GCNIS, and tumour-adjacent regions. Significant heterogeneity in TGCTs and surrounding areas is documented between patients and across different regions in the same tumour. Immune cell-related transcripts encoding macrophage, T cell, B cell, natural killer cell, dendritic cells and neutrophil subsets were identified as contributing substantially to tumour heterogeneity. Assessment of ROIs containing GCNIS and areas immediately adjacent from two individual non-seminoma tumour samples identified the TGFβ family as contributing to upstream regulation of transcripts in both patients; known activin A target genes were differentially expressed between the GCNIS and microenvironment ROIs. In addition, two discrete tumour areas within the seminoma sample displayed distinct transcript profiles, one featuring higher levels of immune cell-related transcripts, and the other TGFβ superfamily transcripts.

Conclusion: These findings highlight aspects of the complex challenge faced while seeking therapeutic targets to enable tumour spread restriction. However, these outcomes reinforce knowledge that TGFβ family members can influence seminoma fate and provide new evidence of their potential contribution to the transition of GCNIS cells into tumours.