Lineage tracing in rhabdoid tumor organoids and orthotopic xenografts reveals convergent transcriptional states

Lentiviral lineage barcoding with single-cell RNA-seq in two patient-derived renal malignant rhabdoid tumor organoid models shows independent lineages converge on the same restricted transcriptional states.

• Why it matters: The study addresses whether MRT transcriptional heterogeneity comes from outgrowth of distinct clones or from independently adopted states, despite a near-silent genome.
• What they did: Cells were tracked long-term in vitro and in a novel orthotopic xenograft using lineage barcodes plus single-cell RNA sequencing, then transcriptional programs were decomposed across lineages.
• The result: Tumors and cultures progressively narrowed to few lineages whose expanded clones were transcriptionally distinct, while independently expanding lineages converged on shared restricted states across cultures, animals, and metastases.

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