Objective To explore the cellular composition and gene expression characteristics of adrenocortical adenoma(ACA)based on single-nuclear RNA sequencing.Methods The postoperative resection samples of 2 ACA cases treated at our hospital during Jul.and Aug.2022 were collected.The cellular composition was isolated and identified with single-nuclear RNA sequencing,the adrenal cortical subgroups were subdivided with specific cortical cell subgroup markers,and the characteristic gene expression profile was studied.Results The main components of ACA were adrenal cortical cells(78.62％),endothelial cells(1.91％),fibroblasts(3.09％),macrophages(14.34％),and T cells(2.05％).Subdivision of cortical cells revealed a group of undefined cells(1.08％),in addition to zona glomerulosa(ZG)cells(1.77％),zona fasciculata(ZF)cells(94.98％),and zona reticularis(ZR)cells(2.17％).These undefined cells were characterized by high expression of intercellular adhesion molecule 1,growth arrest and DNA damage inducing proteins β,tumor necrosis factor α inducing protein 3 and CD36 molecules.According to correlation analysis of the gene expression,these undefined cells were similar to the ZF cells.DEGs enrichment analysis indicated that the metabolic process enrichment index was the highest in biological processes.Reactome GO enrichment analysis revealed that the immune system cytokine signaling response was the most significant.KEGG signaling pathway analysis showed that Th17 cell differentiation pathway was the mostly enriched.DEGs were found to be most closely related to viral infection by DO enrichment analysis.Conclusion This study reveals for the first time the gene expression profile characteristics of cell subset in ACA,which can provide reference to explore the mechanism of ACA.
关键词
单细胞核测序/肾上腺皮质腺瘤/肾上腺/基因表达/生物信息学
Key words
single nuclear RNA sequencing/adrenocortical adenoma/adrenal gland/gene expression/bioinformatics
维普
万方数据