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Epigenetic reprogramming shapes the cellular landscape of schwannoma
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Epigenetic reprogramming shapes the cellular landscape of schwannoma

S John Liu, Tim Casey-Clyde, Nam Woo Cho, Jason Swinderman, Melike Pekmezci, Mark C Dougherty, Kyla Foster, William C Chen, Javier E Villanueva-Meyer, Danielle L Swaney, …
Nature communications, Vol.15(1), 476
01/12/2024
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-40408-5
PMCID: PMC10786948
PMID: 38216587
url
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40408-5View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Mechanisms specifying cancer cell states and response to therapy are incompletely understood. Here we show epigenetic reprogramming shapes the cellular landscape of schwannomas, the most common tumors of the peripheral nervous system. We find schwannomas are comprised of 2 molecular groups that are distinguished by activation of neural crest or nerve injury pathways that specify tumor cell states and the architecture of the tumor immune microenvironment. Moreover, we find radiotherapy is sufficient for interconversion of neural crest schwannomas to immune-enriched schwannomas through epigenetic and metabolic reprogramming. To define mechanisms underlying schwannoma groups, we develop a technique for simultaneous interrogation of chromatin accessibility and gene expression coupled with genetic and therapeutic perturbations in single-nuclei. Our results elucidate a framework for understanding epigenetic drivers of tumor evolution and establish a paradigm of epigenetic and metabolic reprograming of cancer cells that shapes the immune microenvironment in response to radiotherapy.

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