Single-cell transcriptome analysis upon ECM-remodeling meningioma cells

Meningiomas are the most common tumours that primarily arise in the central nervous system, but their intratumoural heterogeneity has not yet been thoroughly studied. We aimed to investigate the transcriptome characteristics and biological properties of ECM-remodeling meningioma cells. Single-cell RNA sequencing (ScRNA-seq) data from meningioma samples were acquired and used for analyses. We conducted comprehensive bioinformatics analyses, including screening for differentially expressed genes (DEGs), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signaling pathway and Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analyses, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis, and copy number variation (CNV) analysis on single-cell sequencing data from meningiomas. Eighteen cell types, including six meningioma subtypes, were identified in the data. ECM-remodeling meningioma cells (MGCs) were mainly distributed in brain-tumour interface tissues. KEGG and GO enrichment analyses revealed that 908 DEGs were mainly related to cell adhesion, extracellular matrix organization, and ECM-receptor interaction. GSEA analysis demonstrated that homophilic cell adhesion via plasma membrane adhesion molecules was significantly enriched (NES = 2.375, P < 0.001). CNV analysis suggested that ECM-remodeling MGCs showed considerably lower average CNV scores. ECM-remodeling MGCs predominantly localized at the brain-tumour interface area and adhere stably to the basement membrane with a lower degree of malignancy. This study provides novel insights into the malignancy of meningiomas.