Charting oncogenicity of genes and variants across lineages via multiplexed screens in teratomas
Deconstructing tissue-specific effects of genes and variants on proliferative advantage is critical to understanding cellular transformation and to systematic selection of cancer therapeutics. Dissecting these specificities at scale requires integrated methods for multiplexed genetic screens tracking fitness across time, across human cell types, and in a suitable cellular niche since functional differences also depend on physiological cues. Towards this, we present a novel approach, harnessing single-cell cancer driver screens in teratomas coupled with hit enrichment by serial teratoma reinjection, to simultaneously screen drivers across multiple lineages in vivo. Using this system, we analyzed population shifts and lineage-specific enrichment for 51 cancer associated genes and gene variants, profiling over 100,000 cells spanning over 20 lineages, across two rounds of serially injected teratomas. We confirmed that c-MYC alone or combined with myristoylated AKT1 potently drives proliferation in progenitor neural lineages, demonstrating signatures of malignancy. These drivers directed teratoma development to lineages representative of pediatric tumors such as medulloblastoma and rhabdomyosarcoma. Additionally, mutant MEK1S218D/S222D provides a proliferative advantage in mesenchymal lineages like fibroblasts. Our method provides a powerful new platform for multi-lineage longitudinal study of oncogenesis.