Hairu Yang, Michaela Dungan, Bhoomi Madhu, Keely A. Beyries, Xin Wang, Robert Kilpatrick, Baron Chen, Sangmi Oh, Marissa Berkowitz, David Glenn Smith, Chaoting Zhou, Sergei B. Koralov, Jordan E. Axelrad, Christopher J. Lengner, Nicole Belle, Meenakshi Bewtra, Bryson W. Katona, Ken Cadwell
ABSTRACT Tissue microenvironment characteristics associated with elevated risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) in Lynch syndrome (LS) are poorly characterized. We applied the multimodal single cell sequencing platform ExCITE-seq to define the colonic cellular composition and transcriptome of LS carriers with and without a history of CRC compared with general population controls. Our analysis revealed widespread remodeling in LS that included striking expansion of epithelial stem and progenitor cells, and loss of fibroblast populations. Although clonally expanded and terminally exhausted CD8 T cells were more prominent in individuals with a history of CRC, LS carriers without CRC displayed enrichment of cytotoxic mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells associated with CCL20 expression in epithelial progenitors, validated by orthogonal techniques including demonstration of a protective function in a murine model of CRC. These findings highlight cellular features that distinguish LS carriers and suggest a protective role of MAIT cells in human CRC surveillance.