{
  "abstract": "Breast cancer progression is closely linked to immune cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME), but the immune landscape differences across HER2-positive (HER2+), triple-negative (TNBC), and ER-positive (ER+) subtypes have yet to be systematically characterized. In this study, we characterized immune landscape differences across HER2-positive (HER2+), triple-negative (TNBC), and ER-positive (ER+) breast cancers using single-cell RNA sequencing data, focusing on T cells, macrophages, and B cells. Our analysis revealed that cytotoxic CD8 + T cells were more abundant in TNBC but showed signs of dysfunction. Macrophage subsets, including an NDUFB8 + population, exhibited divergent functional orientations across subtypes. B cells in TNBC exhibited functional alterations, characterized by a decreased proportion of plasmablasts and an increased proportion of memory B cells. Single-cell regulatory network inference and clustering (SCENIC) analysis predicted a set of subtype-specific candidate transcription factors (TFs), including E2F8 across all subtypes and ATF7 in HER2 + tumors, whose activity correlated with clinical outcomes. Finally, mapping multicellular communication networks revealed both conserved and subtype-specific signaling pathways. Together, these results present a detailed transcriptional landscape of immune heterogeneity in breast cancer and contribute novel insights that may inform the design of subtype-specific immunotherapies.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Bioinformatics Science and Technology, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China",
    "School of Intelligent Medicine and Technology, Big Data Research Center, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China",
    "Department of Breast Surgery, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shihua Lin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yangxinyue Zheng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zushun Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "Menoudji Djetoyom Patrice"
    },
    {
      "name": "Li Wang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xia Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Yunpeng Zhang"
    },
    {
      "name": "Xingda Zhang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jqty0htn23aj.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361987",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "6jqty0htn23aj",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361987",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Proteins/DNA-binding proteins/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Proteins/Regulatory proteins/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Blood cells/White blood cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Blood cells/White blood cells/Macrophages"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Blood cells/White blood cells/T cells/Cytotoxic T cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Immune cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Immune cells/Antibody-producing cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Immune cells/White blood cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Immune cells/White blood cells/Macrophages"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Cellular types/Animal cells/Immune cells/White blood cells/T cells/Cytotoxic T cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation/Transcriptional control"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/Antibody-producing cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/Macrophages"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/T cells/Cytotoxic T cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/Antibody-producing cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/B cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/Macrophages"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune cells/White blood cells/T cells/Cytotoxic T cells"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Oncology/Cancers and neoplasms/Breast tumors/Breast cancer"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7225400777",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-06",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jqty0htn23aj.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:20:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0361987",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361987"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:cell biology",
      "subfield": "cell-biology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:immunology",
      "subfield": "immunology"
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  ],
  "title": "Uncovering the immune microenvironmental atlas of breast cancer molecular subtypes based on single-cell transcriptomics",
  "title_text": "Uncovering the immune microenvironmental atlas of breast cancer molecular subtypes based on single-cell transcriptomics",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:20:48Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/6jqty0htn23aj",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}