Fig. 6

Intercellular communication networks among cell types in the ileum of NSPs and PWPs. a Network graph showing interactions in NSP (right panel) and PWP (left panel) between two cell types coded in colored circles. Networks depicting clusters as nodes and interactions as edges. The sizes of each cluster type are proportional to the total interaction count in each cell type, and edge thickness is proportional to interaction number between connecting types. See Additional file 15: Table S8 for detailed information. b Heatmap showing the number of ligand–receptor pairs across cell subgroups from NSPs (right panel) and PWPs (left panel), predicted by CellphoneDB. Cell types are grouped by broad lineages (intestinal epithelial cells, T cells, B cells, or other immune cells). c The recruitment of CD3⁺ T cells, identified by immunofluorescence (IF) in the ileum villus. Top: representative IF image showing CD3⁺ (green) expression in NSPs and PWPs. The numbers of CD3⁺ T cells significantly increased in PWPs compared with NSPs (n=6). Scale bar represents 100 μm. Bottom: the number of CD3⁺ cells in the field of each villus (***p<0.001, Student’s t-test; error bars: SEM). d Bubble plots showing significant ligand/receptor pairs between dendritic cells (DCs) and another cell types in NSPs and PWPs. Some selected DC–enterocyte (EC) and DC–cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) interactions were enriched in PWPs but absent in NSPs. Point sizes indicate the permutation p value (CellPhoneDB). Colors reflect expression levels of ligands and receptors