Tumour heterogeneity articles from across Nature Portfolio

Mucha et al. analyse tumour and metastases samples from a rare and aggressive melanoma in a 16-month-old child using advanced genetic and spatial profiling. They identify key gene changes and signaling pathways that likely drive rapid disease progression and treatment resistance, highlighting the need for detailed tumour mapping in paediatric melanoma.

We built a repository of 124 tumor single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets and used it to systematically characterize the expression heterogeneity within tumors. These data and analyses together constitute the Curated Cancer Cell Atlas and are freely available for exploration and download via an enhanced online portal.

A recent study published in Nature finds that neuroendocrine small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) cells exhibit electrical activity that directly drives tumour progression and metastasis and shows that they rely on oxidative phosphorylation to meet the high energy demand associated with these electrophysiological processes.

Spatial mass spectrometry (MS)-proteomics is a rapidly evolving technology, particularly in the form of Deep Visual Proteomics (DVP), which allows the study of single cells directly in their native environment. We believe that this approach will reshape our understanding of tissue biology and redefine fundamental concepts in cell biology, tissue physiology and ultimately human health and disease.

In this Journal Club, Chakrabarti discusses a method to dissect the molecular architecture of inheritable gene expression (memory) states that mark cells that transition into drug-tolerant persister cells in melanoma.