Single-cell RNA-seq reveals gene expression heterogeneity in NSCLC and its link to the immune microenvironment

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading cause of cancer-associated mortality globally. Its tumor microenvironment consists of various types of cells, which have a great impact on patient response and prognosis. The present study used scRNA-seq technology to investigate gene expression pattern of various cell types in NSCLC and their correlation with immune microenvironment.

We acquired NSCLC single-cell RNA sequencing data from GSE117570 and employed UMAP clustering analysis to explore the major cell subpopulations. Additionally, we explored the differential expression of important genes among various cell types and their associations with immune cell infiltration, scores of tumor microenvironment.

Our results exhibited the heterogenicity of cell types in NSCLC and also indicated more than 60 genes whose expression displayed significant differences between cell groups, such as AP1S1, BTK, FUCA1, NDEL14, TMEM106B and UNC13D. Expression of these genes correlated with immunocyte infiltration, tumor microenvironment scores, indicating their potential roles in tumor progression and therapeutics.

Our single-cell transcriptomic dissection of NSCLC highlights cellular heterogeneity as well as potential biomarkers associated with immune microenvironment. The findings provide a foundation for the rational development of biomarker-driven personalized treatment and therapy by extending the cell-type specificity of current designs of NSCLC therapeutics.