Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41781968›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2026

Single-cell profiling of tumor lineage plasticity and the immune microenvironment in transformed small cell lung cancer.

Jie Huang, Zhenhua Zhang, Guodi Cai, Weiye Huang, Yu-Qing Chen, Jian Zhang, Lei Yang, Qing Zhou, Jin-Ji Yang, Junjian Wang

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Jie Huang *Guangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Zhenhua Zhang *State Key Laboratory of Anti-Infective Drug Discovery and Development, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Guodi Cai *State Key Laboratory of Anti-Infective Drug Discovery and Development, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Weiye HuangDepartment of Pathology, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Yu-Qing ChenGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Jian ZhangDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510630, China.
Lei YangGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Qing ZhouGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China.
Jin-Ji YangGuangdong Lung Cancer Institute, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Translational Medicine in Lung Cancer, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China. yangjinji@gdph.org.cn.
Junjian WangState Key Laboratory of Anti-Infective Drug Discovery and Development, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510006, China. wangjj87@mail.sysu.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-5328-2908

Funding

Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation 2025A1515012700 and 2022B1515130008Guangzhou Science and Technology Bureau 2025A04J4764Jiangxi Province Natural Science Foundation 20244BAB28024National Natural Science Foundation of China 82560596 and 82373186Science and Technology Project in Ganzhou 2023LNS26799Shenzhen Medical Research Fund C2501013
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe transformation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) into small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a recognized treatment resistance mechanism, most often arising from EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). However, the underlying mechanisms of transformation remain poorly understood.

methodsSingle-cell RNA sequencing was employed to analyze the tumor cell heterogeneity and to map the intratumoral immune cell landscape of 73,195 cells from five LUAD, three transformed small cell lung cancer (T-SCLC) and four SCLC patients. Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) staining and in vitro studies were further conducted to validate the stem-like feature of a malignant cell cluster and the enrichment and the function of interferon-stimulated gene-positive (ISG

resultsAlthough increased intratumoral heterogeneity was observed upon SCLC transformation, a stem-like malignant cell subpopulation was identified to recur across subtypes and groups as the pioneering force of lineage plasticity for SCLC transformation. Further mIF staining and transcription factor analysis validated the stem-like feature. Additionally, tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) analysis revealed that ISG

conclusionOur findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the lineage plasticity and the immune landscape in T-SCLC, highlighting the crucial role of the stem-like cell cluster and ISG

Indexed as

Cell LineageCell PlasticityCell Transformation, NeoplasticLung NeoplasmsSingle-Cell AnalysisSmall Cell Lung CarcinomaTumor MicroenvironmentCell Line, TumorGene Expression ProfilingGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansNeoplastic Stem CellsSingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisIFNLineage plasticityMX1StemnessTransformed SCLC

Identifiers

PMID41781968
PMCPMC12983669

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.