scRNASeq for the Discovery of Malignant Tumor Antigens

Identifying novel tumor antigens is critical for developing a continual arsenal of potential therapeutic products to improve patient care and outcomes. This is the underlying basis for developing effective cancer vaccines that can reach a broad patient population. Transcriptomic methods like RNAseq continue to show their value in identifying new tumor antigens. However, this technology is limited due to the inherent heterogeneity found in many tumors. Investigators have begun to employ techniques such as single-cell RNA seq (scRNAseq) to limit the drawbacks of tissue heterogeneity. While there are several methods and workflows that produce reliable scRNAseq data, research data has shown that the dissociation and purification of tumor cell populations significantly improve scRNAseq results.

In this GEN webinar, we will discuss scRNAseq studies conducted with Discovery Life Sciences and Astellas Pharma using approaches that apply tumor tissue scRNAseq data for translational research, including the identification of cancer types for immuno-oncology projects. Discovery Life Sciences has optimized the acquisition, transport, processing, and cryopreservation of primary human tissues for downstream analysis. These cryopreserved dissociated tumor cells provide the opportunity to understand tumor heterogeneity at the single-cell level using 10X Genomics single-cell pipelines. Additionally, we will hear how scRNAseq data was utilized to discover tumor antigens that are specifically expressed in malignant cells within the tumor.

A live Q&A session followed the presentation, offering a chance to pose questions to our expert panelists.

Produced with support from: