Fig. 4

Summary of the contents in this review. a scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptome sequencing. b scRNA-seq analysis in PCa research, containing human and mouse PCa models, which can help researchers explore the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment. c scRNA-seq analysis in PCa for clinical diagnosis. Detection of CTCs and ctDNA is a non-invasive method for tumor assessment. There are genes significantly expressed in EpCAM-negative cells in the blood, such as AR, erythroblast transformation-specific (ETS)-related gene, HOXB2, KLK3, and PCA3, helping in identifying either EpCAM-negative CTCs or EpCAM-negative circulating stromal cells. d scRNA-seq analysis in PCa for clinical treatment and anti-resistance strategies. HDPC is normally the initial stage of PCa. This type relies on the presence of androgens to grow. Androgen deprivation therapy is a common treatment, including ENZ, ABI and so on. However, over time, some HDPC may develop resistance to hormone therapy and progress to a more aggressive form known as CRPC. In this process, scRNA-seq revealed the presence of highly adaptive CRPC-like cells in the early stages of PCa. These cells continuous to clone and amplify throughout the disease progression. The markers of CRPC-like cells include TOP2A, NUSAP1, PHGR1 and so on. In addition, combining scRNA-seq with other techniques such as ChIP-seq, several important transcription factors have been found to be involved in the progression of drug resistance in PCa, such as AP1, c-Myc and ARNTL. NEPC is a rare and aggressive subtype usually occurring in later stages. NEPC is often associated with resistance to standard treatments for PCa. Treatment options are limited, and prognosis is poor. Through scRNA-seq, some important genes and pathways such as HOXB5, HOXB6, NR1D2 and TGF pathway being identified, which can potentially serve as effective therapeutic targets for subsequent research in mCRPC and NEPC. e Other single-cell analysis in PCa, including single cell metabolism analysis, multiple immunofluorescence single-cell sptial imaging, molecular probe, single-cell proteome and so on. scRNA-seq single-cell RNA sequencing, PCa prostate cancer, CTCs circulating tumor cells, ctDNA circulating tumor DNA, EpCAM epithelial cell adhesion molecule, CSTCS circulating stromal cells, AR androgen receptor, HOXB2 Homeobox B2, ERG erythroblast transformation-specific (ETS)-related gene, KLK3 kallikrein-3, PCA3 prostate cancer associated 3, CRPC castration-resistant prostate cancer, HDPC hormone dependent prostate cancer, ENZ enzalutamide, ABI Abiraterone, NEPC neuroendocrine prostate cancer, mCRPC metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, AVPC aggressive-variant prostate cancer, TOP2A DNA topoisomerase II alpha, NUSAP1 nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1, PHGR1 proline, histidine and glycine rich 1, ChIP-seq chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing, AP1 activator protein 1, c-Myc myelocytomatosis oncogene, ARNTL aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator like, HOXB5 homeobox B5, HOXB6 homeobox B6, NR1D2 nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group D member 2, TGF transforming growth factor