Building the human breast cell atlas with spatially resolved single cell insights

To understand what goes awry in breast cancer, one must first fully characterize the cellular composition and spatial organization of the healthy human breast. The adult female breast consists of an intricate network of epithelial ducts and lobules embedded in connective fibrous and adipose tissue. As part of the Human Breast Cell Atlas (HBCA) project a comprehensive reference is being created to map all cells present within adult breast tissue. Using single cell and single nucleus RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq/snRNA-seq) of normal tissues from over 120 women, 12 major cell types have been identified, and over 50 biological cell states, including previously unidentified cell populations.

This webinar will discuss how spatial mapping technologies have enabled the precise characterization of cellular organization and neighborhoods in situ, revealing a rich ecosystem of tissue-resident immune cells in ductal and lobular regions, as well as epithelial cell state differences.

Ongoing efforts to further refine the breast cell atlas are focused on the analysis of anatomically distinct regions covering the entire breast. Using the 10x Genomics Xenium platform, 280 breast-related RNA targets are being mapped across formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) breast tissues from multiple breast regions per individual. This will inform a greater understanding of the cellular niches within the human breast at the whole-organ level, generating a high-resolution three-dimensional map of the human breast that will serve as a reference for studying mammary biology and diseases such as breast cancer.

Key learning objectives

• Understand how spatial mapping technologies have enabled the analysis of cellular organization in situ, and helped to reveal rich ecosystems of tissue-resident immune cells
• Explore the power of high-resolution spatial profiling with Xenium In Situ and how its data is helping to build a 3D reference map of the human breast
• Learn how scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq have helped uncover the cell types and states of healthy human breast tissue

Who should attend?

• Researchers exploring new approaches for profiling tissue in situ and at scale. Those interested in the Human Breast Cell Atlas project or want to learn about how to comprehensively atlas healthy and diseased tissue.

Certificate of attendance
All webinar participants can request a certificate of attendance, including a learning outcomes summary, for continuing education purposes.