Cellular and molecular features of acute myeloid leukemia investigation based on single-cell RNA sequencing

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is defined as a highly heterogeneous clonal malignant disease of immature myeloid hematopoietic stem cells. The objective of this study was to identify the principal cell clusters in AML and their associated hub genes through the analysis of single-cell sequencing data. We present a comprehensive and valuable landscape of 58,717 cells and 27,311 genes derived from bone marrow samples obtained from 5 patients with AML and 3 controls. Then, 9 cell subclusters were identified. The ratios of common myeloid progenitor (CMP), Myelocyte, and Pro-Myelocyte were found to be significantly different between AML and control, as these cells were utilized as differential cells in the present study. A total of 26 differentially expressed genes were identified following the merging and de-weighting of the data. 4 hub genes, ELANE, LTF, S100A12, and SLPI, were selected for further analysis. Homogeneity analysis was conducted on the Myelocyte and Pro-Myelocyte cells, which were subsequently re-clustered into 11 and 8 cell clusters, respectively. In conclusion, we leveraged high-throughput single-cell transcriptomics to parse the cell landscape in the bone marrow from AML patients, 2 key cell types, myelocyte, and pro-myelocyte and related hub genes, ELANE, LTF, S100A12, SLPI were found, and biological functions, regulatory relationships, and developmental status of these key cells, as well as the biological pathways, the molecular regulatory mechanisms, and the related drugs, involved in the hub genes were demonstrated. Our data and findings provide novel insight into AML pathological development and can be inspired in the treatment of AML.