ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1592044
This article is part of the Research TopicOmics and Oral Cancers: Comprehensive Profiles & Diagnostic and Therapeutic PotentialView all articles
Spatial transcriptomic analysis of 4NQO-induced tongue cancer revealed cellular lineage diversity and evolutionary trajectory
Provisionally accepted
- 1China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2Shanghai Cancer Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 3Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai, China
- 4Department of Medical Oncology, Affiliated Jinling Hospital, School of Medicine, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China
- 5School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China
- 6Liuzhou Workers Hospital, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
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Spatial transcriptomic analysis has proposed valuable insights into the behavior of tongue cancer. However, the specific cell types involved in chemically-induced carcinogenesis and the process of tumor development remain elusive. Leveraging artificial intelligence and spatial transcriptomic sequencing, the spatial and temporal evolution of 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO)-induced carcinogenesis and the heterogeneity within tongue cancer have been meticulously characterized. An AI algorithm effectively classified the dysplastic tongue into 13 distinct categories, while spatial transcriptomic sequencing identified 13 subgroups with unique cellular features within the tongue lesion. Despite subtle morphological distinctions, both AI and spatial transcriptomics successfully distinguished the muscle phenotype and gene lineage variations induced by 4NQO exposure. Evolutionary tree analysis unveiled the dynamic appearance and disappearance of cell subgroups exhibiting diverse functions and gene phenotypes during the transition from epithelial dysplasia to in situ carcinoma to invasive cancer in tongue cancer cells. Notably, the identification of switch genes associated with tumor invasion highlights potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, the analysis revealed significant intra-tumor heterogeneity. The spatial transcriptomic analysis of 4NQO-induced tongue cancer holds promise in elucidating the behavior of tongue cancer cells and may offer novel insights for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
Keywords: Spatial transcriptomics, 4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide, Tongue cancer, artificial intelligence, Switch genes
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 02 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wu, Yu, Cheng, Pan, Wang, Yu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Xiaodong Wang, School of Computer Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, 710126, Shaanxi Province, China
Guanzhen Yu, Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Chaofu Li, Liuzhou Workers Hospital, Liuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Region, China
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