Intratumoural transcriptional heterogeneity and cellular plasticity in prostate cancer

Tumours are a highly heterogeneous mix of multiple cellular subpopulations, each with their own unique molecular and biological properties. Studying intratumoural heterogeneity (ITH) is crucial for understanding the acquisition of drug resistance in tumours. This project will apply single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize ITH at the transcriptional level in patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models of prostate cancer and track how ITH changes in response to treatment with commonly used drugs for prostate cancer. We will also investigate how cellular plasticity, the ability of tumour cells to change molecular states, may act as a means for prostate cancer cells to adapt to drug treatment. Students will be trained in the analysis and interpretation of single-cell RNA sequencing data using R, gain expertise in statistics, genomics and cancer biology and work with a team of computational and wet-lab biologists.