Single-cell profiling of tumor-infiltrating TCF7+ T cells reveals a T lymphocyte subset associated with tertiary lymphoid structures and superior prognosis in oral cancer

We isolated OSCC cells and performed single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq). Using immunohistochemistry(IHC) to analyze the relationship between TLS and prognosis. Multiple immunohistochemistry (MIHC), Flow cytometry (FCM) and Spatial analysis were used to verify the characteristics of TCF7+ T cells and their correlation with TLS. The prognostic significance, upstream regulatory network and intercellular communication of the TCF7+ T cell subpopulation were performed by multivariate analysis, Scenic and CellPhone software package analysis.We found a strong association between TCF7+ T cell subsets, TLSs and prognosis. The results suggested that TCF7+ T cells are expressing high levels of TLS-related genes and low levels of immune checkpoint molecules. Finally, we found that TCF7+ T cells were significantly associated with favorable outcomes. We also describe the upstream drivers and intercellular molecules that these cells rely on.The results showed that TCF7+ T cells could be used as a new therapeutic target to regulate the immune response of OSCC and are expected to be a new prognostic marker. Overall design: Examination of 6 different OSCC patients