Fig. 4

The extent of metastatic burden alters immune crosstalk profiles. A Comparison of the number of highly transcribed ligand-receptor pairs between PBMC samples from high and low metastatic burden patients. The communication axes are grouped by long-distance secreted signalling, extracellular matrix (ECM) receptors, and cell–cell interactions. The red diamond indicates the average count across samples. B Composite enrichment scores for cell-type/communication axes between a cell type (e.g. cDC2; x-axis) and all other cell types. Each communication axis can underlie several ligands and receptors. The colours represent the enrichment direction (blue for low and red for high metastatic burden disease). Communication axes are grouped by type. Bar plots represent the enrichment score average for cell types (columns) or communication axes (rows). C, D, and E Enrichment of communication among cell type pairs for the most differentially enriched communication axes (in either direction). The colours represent the enrichment direction (blue for low and red for high metastatic burden disease). The genes included in each communication axis are below the names of the communication axes. The arrows represent the direction of the communication (ligand outgoing, receptor incoming). Some communications are bi-directional. F Transcript abundance for the CLEC/KLRB1 ligand/receptor pair for the cell types that show enrichment. Colours represent conditions (blue for low and red for high metastatic burden). UMAP plot of cells coloured by transcription of either CLEC or KLRB1. The UMAP panels on the right side show the enrichment of communication between cell types for the most differentially enriched communication axes (in either direction). G Transcript abundance for the ALCAM/CD6 ligand/receptor pair for the cell types that show enrichment (dendritic cells with ligand and lymphocytes with the receptor). Colours represent conditions. UMAP plot of cells coloured by transcription of either ALCAM or CD6. The UMAP panels (right-side) show communication enrichment among cell types. The colours represent the enrichment direction (blue for low- and red for high-metastatic burden disease)