Single-Cell Profiling Reveals Global Immune Responses During the Progression of Murine Epidermal Neoplasms

Immune cells determine the role of the tumor microenvironment during tumor progression, either suppressing tumor formation or promoting tumorigenesis. This study aimed to fully characterize immune cell responses during skin tumor progression.

Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we analyzed the profile of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment of control mouse skins and skin tumors at the single-cell level.

We identified 15 CD45⁺ immune cell clusters, which broadly represent the most functionally characterized immune cell types including macrophages, Langerhans cells (LC), conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1), conventional type 2 dendritic cells (cDC2), migratory/mature dendritic cells (mDC), dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC), dermal γδ T cells (γδT), T cells, regulatory T cells (Tregs), natural killer cells (NK), type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2), neutrophils (Neu), mast cells (Mast), and two proliferating populations (Prolif.1 and Prolif.2). Skin tumor progression reprogramed immune cells and led to a marked increase in the relative percentages of macrophages, cDC2, mDC, Tregs, and Neu. Macrophages, the largest cell cluster of immune cells in skin tumors. In addition, macrophages emerged as the predominant communication 'hub' in skin tumors, highlighting the importance of macrophages during skin tumor progression. In contrast, other immune cell clusters decreased during skin tumor progression, including DETC, γδT, ILC2, and LC. In addition, skin tumor progression dramatically upregulated Jak2/Stat3 expression and the interferon response across various immune cell clusters. Further, skin tumor progression activated T cells and NK cells indicated by elevated expression of IFN-γ and Granzyme B in skin tumors. Meanwhile, a pronounced infiltration of M2-macrophages and Tregs in skin tumors created an immunosuppressive microenvironment, consistent with the elevated expression of the Stat3 pathway in skin tumors.

Our study elucidates the immune cell landscape of epidermal neoplasms, offering a comprehensive understanding of the immune response during skin tumor progression and providing new insights into cancer immune evasion mechanisms.