WOFAPS 2025 8th World Congress of Pediatric Surgery

Ling Zhang, Lizhi Li, Jianbin Wang, Shiwei He

Fujian Medical University

Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is a common pediatric solid tumor originating from the sympathetic nervous system, characterized by high heterogeneity and a complex tumor microenvironment. This study aims to explore the cellular heterogeneity and the features of tumor-associated cell subsets, as well as potential intercellular interactions, using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq).

Methods: Tumor and adjacent normal tissues from four pediatric NB patients were collected for single-cell suspension preparation and sequencing on the 10X Genomics platform. Standard bioinformatic pipelines were applied for data quality control, dimensionality reduction, clustering, and cell-type annotation. Malignant cells were identified using InferCNV and CopyKAT algorithms, and cell annotation was supported by known marker genes from literature. Gene set enrichment scoring was conducted to explore functional relationships among key cell populations.

Results: A total of 61,735 high-quality cells were obtained and annotated, including tumor cells, fibroblasts, T/NK cells, endothelial cells, and myeloid cells. Malignant cells were primarily localized within tumor clusters, with notable heterogeneity. Gene set scoring revealed upregulation of immune regulatory genes in tumor-infiltrating fibroblasts, whereas T/NK cells in adjacent tissues displayed more active functional phenotypes, suggesting possible immune-modulatory interactions between these subsets.

Conclusion: This study provides a single-cell atlas of pediatric NB and adjacent tissues, revealing the heterogeneity of key cellular subsets and potential intercellular communication networks. These findings offer valuable insights into the pathogenesis and therapeutic targeting of neuroblastoma.