Macrophages in SHH subgroup medulloblastoma display dynamic heterogeneity that varies with treatment modality

Mai T. Dang, Michael V. Gonzalez, Krutika S. Gaonkar, Komal S. Rathi, Patricia Young, Sherjeel Arif, Li Zhai, Zahidul Alam, Samir Devalaraja, Tsun Ki Jerrick To, Ian W. Folkert, Pichai Raman, Jo Lynne Rokita, Daniel Martinez, Jaclyn N. Taroni, Joshua A. Shapiro, Casey S. Greene, Candace Savonen, Fernanda Mafra, Hakon HakonarsonTom Curran, Malay Haldar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in tumor immunity and comprise of subsets that have distinct phenotype, function, and ontology. Transcriptomic analyses of human medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain cancer, showed that medulloblastomas (MBs) with activated sonic hedgehog signaling (SHH-MB) have significantly more TAMs than other MB subtypes. Therefore, we examined MB-associated TAMs by single-cell RNA sequencing of autochthonous murine SHH-MB at steady state and under two distinct treatment modalities: molecular-targeted inhibitor and radiation. Our analyses reveal significant TAM heterogeneity, identify markers of ontologically distinct TAM subsets, and show the impact of brain microenvironment on the differentiation of tumor-infiltrating monocytes. TAM composition undergoes dramatic changes with treatment and differs significantly between molecular-targeted and radiation therapy. We identify an immunosuppressive monocyte-derived TAM subset that emerges with radiation therapy and demonstrate its role in regulating T cell and neutrophil infiltration in MB.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108917
JournalCell Reports
Volume34
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 30 2021

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