Tackling Tumour Cell Heterogeneity at the Super-Resolution Level in Human Colorectal Cancer Tissue
by
, , , ,
Fabian Lang
1,†
,
María F. Contreras-Gerenas
2,3,†,
Márton Gelléri
3,
Jan Neumann
3,
Ole Kröger
4,
Filip Sadlo
4,
Krzysztof Berniak
5,
Alexander Marx
6,
Christoph Cremer
3,4,7,‡, 
Hans-Achim Wagenknecht
1,‡ and
Heike Allgayer
2,*,‡
1
Institute of Organic Chemistry, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Fritz-Haber-Weg 6, Campus Süd, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
2
Department of Experimental Surgery—Cancer Metastasis, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, Ludolf-Krehl-Straße 13-17, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
3
Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB), Ackermannweg 4, 55128 Mainz, Germany
4
Interdisciplinary Centre for Scientific Computing (IWR), University Heidelberg, Mathematikon B, Im Neuenheimer Feld 205, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
5
Department of Cell Biophysics, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 7 Street, 30-387 Krakow, Poland
6
Institute of Pathology, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1, 68167 Mannheim, Germany
7
Institute of Pharmacy & Molecular Biotechnology, Ruprecht-Karls University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 364, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
‡
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Cancers 2021, 13(15), 3692; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13153692
Submission received: 7 July 2021
/
Revised: 19 July 2021
/
Accepted: 20 July 2021
/
Published: 22 July 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Colorectal Cancers: From Present Problems to Future Solutions)
Simple Summary
Tumour cell heterogeneity is the most fundamental problem in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Micro-diagnostic technologies able to differentiate the heterogeneous molecular, especially metastatic, potential of single cells or cell clones already within early primary tumours of carcinoma patients would be of utmost importance. Single molecule localisation microscopy (SMLM) has recently allowed the imaging of subcellular features at the nanoscale. However, the technology has mostly been limited to cultured cell lines only. We introduce a first-in-field approach for quantitative SMLM-analysis of chromatin nanostructure in individual cells in resected, routine-pathology colorectal carcinoma patient tissue sections, illustrating, as a first example, changes in nuclear chromatin nanostructure and microRNA intracellular distribution within carcinoma cells as opposed to normal cells, chromatin accessibility and microRNAs having been shown to be critical in gene regulation and metastasis. We believe this technology to have an enormous potential for future differential diagnosis between individual cells in the tissue context.
Abstract
Tumour cell heterogeneity, and its early individual diagnosis, is one of the most fundamental problems in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Single molecule localisation microscopy (SMLM) resolves subcellular features but has been limited to cultured cell lines only. Since nuclear chromatin architecture and microRNAs are critical in metastasis, we introduce a first-in-field approach for quantitative SMLM-analysis of chromatin nanostructure in individual cells in resected, routine-pathology colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patient tissue sections. Chromatin density profiles proved to differ for cells in normal and carcinoma colorectal tissues. In tumour sections, nuclear size and chromatin compaction percentages were significantly different in carcinoma versus normal epithelial and other cells of colorectal tissue. SMLM analysis in nuclei from normal colorectal tissue revealed abrupt changes in chromatin density profiles at the nanoscale, features not detected by conventional widefield microscopy. SMLM for microRNAs relevant for metastasis was achieved in colorectal cancer tissue at the nuclear level. Super-resolution microscopy with quantitative image evaluation algorithms provide powerful tools to analyse chromatin nanostructure and microRNAs of individual cells from normal and tumour tissue at the nanoscale. Our new perspectives improve the differential diagnosis of normal and (metastatically relevant) tumour cells at the single-cell level within the heterogeneity of primary tumours of patients.
