Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals potential mechanism of RUNX3 reshaping tumor microenvironment in non-small cell lung cancer

RUNX3 acts as a tumor suppressor gene (TSG) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but its specific biological mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to reveal changes in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of NSCLC with different RUNX3 expression statuses through single-cell RNA sequencing. Seven NSCLC patients with detailed pathological data were enrolled, and 3 of them provided both paracancerous and cancerous tissue samples. After sequencing, the "Seurat" package was used to analyze differentially expressed genes, annotate cell clusters with marker genes, and compare cell proportion differences at different RUNX3 expression levels. The observed-over-expected cell number ratio (Ro/e) was used to assess cell type enrichment among three pathological types. Immunohistochemical staining for RUNX3 classified 3 patients into the RUNX3-negative group (RUNX3_Neg) and 4 into the RUNX3-positive group (RUNX3_Pos). All cells were classified into 13 types based on marker genes. Sample information and gene detection results are presented in the tables.