{
    "abstract": "Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancer that arises from the sympathetic nervous system. Despite advances in treatment, high-risk neuroblastoma remains difficult to manage due to its heterogeneous nature and frequent development of drug resistance. Drug repurposing guided by single-cell analysis presents a promising strategy for identifying new therapeutic options. Here, we aim to characterize high-risk neuroblastoma subpopulations and identify effective repurposed drugs for targeted treatment. We performed single-cell transcriptomic analysis of neuroblastoma samples, integrating bulk RNA-seq data deconvolution with clinical outcomes to define distinct malignant cell states. Using a systematic drug repurposing pipeline, we identified and validated potential therapeutic agents targeting specific high-risk neuroblastoma subpopulations. Single-cell analysis revealed 17 transcriptionally distinct neuroblastoma subpopulations. Survival analysis identified a highly aggressive subpopulation characterized by elevated UBE2C/PTTG1 expression and poor patient outcomes, distinct from a less aggressive subpopulation with favorable prognosis. Drug repurposing screening identified Adavosertib as particularly effective against the aggressive subpopulation, validated using SK-N-DZ cells as a representative model. Mechanistically, Adavosertib suppressed cell proliferation through AKT/mTOR pathway disruption, induced G2/M phase cell cycle arrest, and promoted apoptosis. Further analysis revealed UBE2C and PTTG1 as key molecular drivers of drug resistance, where their overexpression enhanced proliferation, Adavosertib resistance, and cell migration. This study establishes a single-cell-based drug repurposing strategy for high-risk neuroblastoma treatment. Our approach successfully identified Adavosertib as a promising repurposed therapeutic agent for targeting specific high-risk neuroblastoma subpopulations, providing a framework for developing more effective personalized treatment strategies.",
    "authors": [
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.",
            "firstname": "Chiao-Hui",
            "initials": "CH",
            "lastname": "Hsieh"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.",
            "firstname": "Yi-Xuan",
            "initials": "YX",
            "lastname": "Chen"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.",
            "firstname": "Tzu-Yang",
            "initials": "TY",
            "lastname": "Tseng"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.",
            "firstname": "Albert",
            "initials": "A",
            "lastname": "Li"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Institute of Biomedical Informatics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: hsuancheng@nycu.edu.tw.",
            "firstname": "Hsuan-Cheng",
            "initials": "HC",
            "lastname": "Huang"
        },
        {
            "affiliation": "Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Biomedical Electronics and Bioinformatics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Computational and Systems Biology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Center for Advanced Computing and Imaging in Biomedicine, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: yukijuan@ntu.edu.tw.",
            "firstname": "Hsueh-Fen",
            "initials": "HF",
            "lastname": "Juan"
        }
    ],
    "conclusions": null,
    "copyrights": "Copyright \u00a9 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.",
    "doi": "10.1016/j.neurot.2025.e00575",
    "journal": "Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics",
    "keywords": [
        "AKT/mTOR pathway",
        "Adavosertib",
        "Cancer therapy",
        "Neuroblastoma",
        "Single cell RNA sequencing"
    ],
    "methods": null,
    "publication_date": "2025-03-22",
    "pubmed_id": "40118716",
    "results": null,
    "title": "Transcriptionally distinct malignant neuroblastoma populations show selective response to adavosertib treatment.",
    "xml": "<Element 'PubmedArticle' at 0x788505f631a0>"
}