Integrative multi-omics analysis reveals the role of tumor-associated endothelial cells and their signature in prognosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the interplay between tumor-associated endothelial cells (TECs) and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) and its impact on tumor prognosis. We conducted single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of tumor, normal, and lymph node tissues obtained from intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients to reveal the role of TECs in tumor angiogenesis and their significant heterogeneity. Meanwhile, we identified genes highly expressed in TECs and constructed TEC signatures (TEC.Sig). Next, we calculated TEC scores of samples based on TEC.Sig. Patients with higher TEC scores exhibited a higher frequency of KRAS mutations, which was associated with increased infiltration of neutrophils and immature dendritic cells (iDCs), and decreased numbers of natural killer (NK), CD4 + T, and CD8 + T effector memory (Tem) cells, indicating an inflammation-dominated immunosuppressive phenotype. In contrast, BAP1 mutations and CXCL12 overexpression showed a contrasting trend. Spatial transcriptomics analysis and histological experiments further confirmed that TECs interacted with various tumor-killing immune cells through the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis. Multiple tumor immunotherapy datasets confirmed that the TEC.Sig could predict patient responses to immunotherapy. The TEC score is a promising and reliable biomarker for predicting genetic mutations and prognosis in ICC patients. Enhancing the regulation of the CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling pathway may represent a potential novel therapeutic target for ICC treatment.