SUMMARY
Reference atlases, molecular and spatial maps of mammalian tissues, are critical resources for discovery efforts and translational research. Their utility is dependent on operationalizing the resulting data by identifying cell types, histological patterns, and predictive biomarkers underlying health and disease. The human lymph node (LN) offers a compelling use case because of its importance in immunity, structural and cellular diversity, and neoplastic involvement. One hematological malignancy, follicular lymphoma (FL), evolves from developmentally blocked germinal center B cells residing in and trafficking through these tissues. To promote survival and immune escape, tumor B cells undergo significant genetic changes and extensively remodel the lymphoid microenvironment. Here, we present an integrated portrait of healthy and FL LNs using multiple genomic and advanced imaging technologies. By leveraging the strengths of each platform, we identified several tumor-specific features and microenvironmental patterns enriched in individuals who experience early relapse, the most high-risk of FL patients.
Competing Interest Statement
Nathan Fowler is the Chief Medical Officer of BostonGene, Corp and a Professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Ekaterina Postovalova, Arina Varlamova, Alexander Bagaev, Maria Sorokina, Olga Kudryashova, Alexander Bagaev, Mark Meerson, Margarita Polyakova, Ilia Galkin, Viktor Svekolkin, Sergei Isaev, Grigory Perelman, Yaroslav Lozinsky, Pavel Ovcharov, Krystle Nomie, Ekaterina Nuzhdina, Nikita Kotlov, Ravshan Attaulakhanov were employees at BostonGene at the time the study was performed. Ekaterina Postovalova, Arina Varlamova, Alexander Bagaev, Olga Kudryashova, Mark Meerson, Ilia Galkin, Viktor Svekolkin, Pavel Ovcharov, Ekaterina Nuzhdina, Nikita Kotlov, Ravshan Attaulakhanov are inventors on patent applications related to MxIF pipelines and proprietary BostonGene software. All other authors declare no other competing financial interests.