Fig. 7: Transcription profiles of cervical SCCs and ADCs correlate with squamous and columnar epithelial lineages.

a, Gene expression profiles of SCC and ADC correlate well with genes differentially expressed between ecto- and endocervical organoids, respectively. Colour bar denotes z-scored gene expression. b, Heat map showing the mean-substracted expression for selected bimodal genes in cancer samples that were differentially expressed in squamous and columnar organoids. Colour bar denotes fold change from mean gene expression across all samples. In a,b, Up-ectocervical organoids denote genes that are upregulated in ectocerival organoids compared to endocervical organoids; Up-endocervical organoids denote genes that are upregulated in endocerival organoids compared to ectocervical organoids. c,d, Gene expression profiles of proposed SCJ markers together with KRT5 in cervical organoids (c) and 178 cervical cancer samples (d). Expression of these markers was higher in endocervical organoids (n = 6) and ADCs (n = 34) compared with ectocervical organoids (n = 10) and SCCs (n = 144), in contrast to KRT5 expression; Box hinges correspond to first and third quartiles, the centre line corresponds to the median value, and whiskers correspond to the largest or smallest value within 1.5× the interquartile range from the hinges. All other outlying values are shown as individual points. Statistical significance was determined by a two-sided Mann–Whitney U test with no adjustments. *P < 0.001, except for AGR2 in c (P = 0.073).