Single-cell and bulk transcriptome analysis identifies B-cell subpopulations and associated cancer subtypes with distinct clinical and molecular characteristics

Abstract Backgroud: Previous studies have identified B cell subpopulations with pro- and anti-tumoral activities, while the clinical relevance of B cell subpopulations-specific markers in pan-cancer remains understudied. Methods: We integrated 14 scRNA-seq datasets (102,504 cells from 424 patients, 15 cancer types) to identify B cell subpopulations via unsupervised clustering. We characterized their functional dynamics and prognostic relevance through analyzing single-cell, bulk and spatial transcriptomic data. Moreover, using B cell subpopulations-specific gene signatures, we constructed models for predicting cancer prognosis and