# Single-cell immune landscape in the oral dysplasia's malignant transformation

> **NIH NIH R16** · UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC-STOCKTON · 2024 · $171,880

## Abstract

About 7.9-27.6% of oral dysplasia, a premalignant lesion, transit to the invasive oral cavity squamous cell
carcinoma (OCSCC). Prognostic biomarkers are critically needed to determine patients with oral
dysplastic lesions at risk for malignant transformation and to guide the targeted development of novel
therapies. Our goal is to establish a single-cell atlas of premalignant immune microenvironment (PRIME)
in oral dysplasia and to identify immune features that predict the malignant transformation to OCSCC.
We propose an innovative approach that combines high-dimensional imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and
machine learning predictive modeling (iEN) to analyze a total of ~200 Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded
(FFPE) patient tongue biopsies from the Oral Pathology Archive at the University of the Pacific (UOP),
Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. IMC is a new multiplex imaging technology which combines high-
dimensional mass cytometry with microscopy. Immune Elastic Net (iEN) is a machine learning algorithm
specifically developing for the analysis of high-dimensional mass cytometry data. We plan to identify
immune features that differentiate oral dysplasia severity (Aim 1) and predict OCSCC malignant
transformation (Aim 2). In addition, we will analyze the iEN-selected immune features at UOP Han’s lab
by conducting multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) staining on the whole sections (Aim 1&2) to validate
and generalize the IMC findings. The proposed research will establish immune landscape in oral
dysplasia and identify biomarkers to predict the malignant transformation. It also provides an opportunity
for predental or dental students participating in translational research and collaborating with
multidisciplinary team to identify biomarkers to improve oral pathology diagnosis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10896274
- **Project number:** 5R16GM150790-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC-STOCKTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Xiaoyuan Han
- **Activity code:** R16 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $171,880
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-01 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10896274

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10896274, Single-cell immune landscape in the oral dysplasia's malignant transformation (5R16GM150790-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10896274. Licensed CC0.

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