Spatial transcriptomic profiling of human retinoblastoma

Abstract

Retinoblastoma (RB) represents one of the most prevalent intraocular cancers in children. Understanding the tumor heterogeneity in RB is important to design better targeted therapies. Here we used spatial transcriptomic to profile human retina and RB tumor to comprehensively dissect the spatial cell-cell communication networks. We found high intratumoral heterogeneity in RB, consisting of 10 transcriptionally distinct subpopulations with varying levels of proliferation capacity. Our results uncovered a complex architecture of the tumor microenvironment that predominantly consisted of cone precursors, as well as glial cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts. We delineated the cell trajectory underlying malignant progression of RB, and identified key signaling pathways driving genetic regulation across RB progression. We also explored the signaling pathways mediating cell-cell communications in RB subpopulations, and mapped the spatial networks of RB subpopulations and region neighbors. Altogether, we constructed the first spatial gene atlas for RB, which allowed us to characterize the transcriptomic landscape in spatially-resolved RB subpopulations, providing novel insights into the complex spatial communications involved in RB progression.