Türkiye Biotechnology Institute
Health Institutes of Türkiye (TÜSEB),
Ankara, Türkiye

https://tbe.tuseb.gov.tr/en/institutional/ekibimiz

Potential of Single Cell Transcriptome Sequencing in the Search for New Drug Targets for Mesothelioma

Abstract:
Malignant mesothelioma (MM) is a rare and aggressive cancer with limited effective treatment options. Asbestos exposure is the primary risk factor for MM, and gene-environment interactions play a critical role in the development of personalized therapies. While certain gene mutations have been suggested to influence treatment outcomes, our understanding of their impact remains limited. There is a pressing need for detailed multi-omics profiling of MM tumors at the single-cell level to identify actionable targets for personalized treatment. To address this need, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) on mesothelioma tumor cells to identify consistently expressed genes across all tumor clones within a given sample. We further employed CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to functionally validate these targets and assess their potential as novel therapeutic candidates for MM.

Our findings highlight the utility of single-cell transcriptomic analysis in uncovering universal gene targets across heterogeneous tumor populations, and demonstrate the potential of CRISPR-based functional screening in prioritizing candidate genes for the development of more effective, personalized therapies in malignant mesothelioma.