Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
10:15
Conditional Reprogramming of Pediatric Human Esophageal Epithelial Cells for Use in Tissue Engineering and Disease Investigation
Published on: March 22, 2017
Single-cell reveals age-dependent epithelial reprogramming and EMT vulnerability in THCA.
Qiankun Zhang1, Wei Pan2, Xiaohua Gong2
1Department of Nephrology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University; Lishui Central Hospital; Lishui Hospital of Zhejiang University, Lishui, China.
Endocrine-Related Cancer
|May 22, 2026
Summary
Thyroid cancer
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Genomics
Background:
- Thyroid cancer displays significant cellular heterogeneity.
- Mechanisms of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and tumor microenvironment (TME) remodeling are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically characterize immune and epithelial heterogeneity in thyroid cancer.
- To investigate the role of EMT in TME remodeling, immune evasion, and therapeutic resistance.
Main Methods:
- Single-cell RNA sequencing of 92,849 cells from 20 thyroid tissue samples.
- Cell type annotation, subclustering, and functional enrichment analyses.
- Functional validation using shRNA-mediated knockdown in thyroid cancer cell lines.
Main Results:
- Identified 26 distinct cell clusters with age- and stage-specific differences.
- EMT-high tumors showed stromal enrichment, immune suppression, and activation of EMT drivers.
- PHTF2 and SNAI1 knockdown inhibited proliferation and EMT markers; EMT-high tumors had altered drug sensitivity.
Conclusions:
- PHTF2 and SNAI1 are key regulators of EMT and proliferation in thyroid cancer.
- EMT-driven TME remodeling contributes to immune evasion and therapeutic resistance.
- EMT-associated vulnerabilities present potential targets for precision therapy.
