- Liu, Min;
- Bertolazzi, Giorgio;
- Sridhar, Shruti;
- Lee, Rui;
- Jaynes, Patrick;
- Mulder, Kevin;
- Syn, Nicholas;
- Hoppe, Michal;
- Fan, Shuangyi;
- Peng, Yanfen;
- Thng, Jocelyn;
- Chua, Reiya;
- Batumalai, Yogeshini;
- De Mel, Sanjay;
- Poon, Limei;
- Chan, Esther;
- Lee, Joanne;
- Hue, Susan;
- Chang, Sheng-Tsung;
- Chuang, Shih-Sung;
- Chandy, K;
- Ye, Xiaofei;
- Pan-Hammarström, Qiang;
- Ginhoux, Florent;
- Chee, Yen;
- Ng, Siok-Bian;
- Tripodo, Claudio;
- Jeyasekharan, Anand
Macrophages are abundant immune cells in the microenvironment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Macrophage estimation by immunohistochemistry shows varying prognostic significance across studies in DLBCL, and does not provide a comprehensive analysis of macrophage subtypes. Here, using digital spatial profiling with whole transcriptome analysis of CD68+ cells, we characterize macrophages in distinct spatial niches of reactive lymphoid tissues (RLTs) and DLBCL. We reveal transcriptomic differences between macrophages within RLTs (light zone /dark zone, germinal center/ interfollicular), and between disease states (RLTs/ DLBCL), which we then use to generate six spatially-derived macrophage signatures (MacroSigs). We proceed to interrogate these MacroSigs in macrophage and DLBCL single-cell RNA-sequencing datasets, and in gene-expression data from multiple DLBCL cohorts. We show that specific MacroSigs are associated with cell-of-origin subtypes and overall survival in DLBCL. This study provides a spatially-resolved whole-transcriptome atlas of macrophages in reactive and malignant lymphoid tissues, showing biological and clinical significance.