TMExplorer: A tumour microenvironment single-cell RNAseq database and search tool

Abstract

Motivation The tumour microenvironment (TME) contains various cells including stromal fibroblasts, immune and malignant cells, and its composition can be elucidated using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). scRNA-seq datasets from several cancer types are available, yet we lack a comprehensive database to collect and present related TME data in an easily accessible format. Results We therefore built a TME scRNA-seq database, and created the R package TMExplorer to facilitate investigation of the TME. TMExplorer provides an interface to easily access all available datasets and their metadata. The users can search for datasets using a thorough range of characteristics. The TMExplorer allows for examination of the TME using scRNAseq in a way that is streamlined and allows for easy integration into already existing scRNAseq analysis pipelines.