Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the potential role of estrogen in tuberous sclerosis complex related renal angiomyolipoma.

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a kind of rare genetic disorder caused by TSC1/TSC2 gene mutations and presented as angiomyolipoma (AML) in kidney. Previous studies have indicated the presence of estrogen-related heterogeneity in TSC, but this aspect has not been extensively explored. In the present study, we employed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to investigate the estrogen-related heterogeneity in TSC-AML. A total of two female and two male TSC-AML patients were included in this study. Our results revealed the presence of various cell types within the TSC-AML tissue, including macrophages, endothelial cells, dendritic cells, neutrophils, B cells, fibroblasts, and tumor cells. Among the macrophage population, the immune-suppressive C1QC-Macro cells constituted the majority, and these cells were found to be more prevalent in female patients. AUCell analysis showed that estrogen-related pathways were significantly upregulated in C1QC-Macro cells in female patients compared to male patients. Furthermore, CellChat analysis demonstrated that tumor cells in female patients may regulate C1QC-Macro cells through the CXCL signaling pathway (CXCL12-CXCR4). In contrast, male patients exhibited enhanced interactions in stromal remodeling-related signaling pathways. Tumor cells were further categorized into TC1-TC6 subtypes. Notably, tumor cells with stem cell-like and EMT (ep

Evidence level

Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.

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