PD-1 blockade potentiates neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC via increasing CD127+ and KLRG1+ CD8 T cells.
The main result did not reproduce in this reproduction attempt. Where our recomputation produced values that differ from the published ones, those discrepancies are listed below. This is a single automated attempt — not peer review and not a finding of error or misconduct — and differences can also arise from data access, undocumented parameters or the computing environment. The verdict can be contested via “report an error”.
- ✓Reported values were directly comparable
- 🟡Could not use the authors’ exact input data
- 🟡A deviation arose in the data or preprocessing
- 🔴A deviation was attributed to the published material
- 🟡Reported values were not (fully) derivable from the shared data
- 🟡The deviation was non-trivial in magnitude
- 🟡The central claim did not (fully) hold under reproduction
- 🟡Overall, the reproduction showed a material discrepancy
A 0–100 reproducibility-quality score from the per-question grades, shown as a z-score: standard deviations above (+) or below (−) the mean of comparable assessments.
▸Reproduction agent’s raw note
Described well enough for a PARTIAL, honest 1:1 on the primary pipeline output, not a full reproduction. Clarification: the brief's data accession GSE179994 is only a validation set (Fig.7); the paper's OWN scRNA data is GSE229353, and the named tool (CellChat) was run on it - so we reproduced against GSE229353. C1 (cell count): we recomputed per-cell QC directly from the 7 deposited 10x matrices and applied the paper's stated Seurat filters (200<=nGene<=6000, nUMI>=1000, mito<10%); 6 intact samples yield 22,509 cells and 31,203 total cellranger calls vs the reported 26,861 (extrapolated ~25k, ~7% off). An EXACT total is impossible because GSM7159185(P03)_matrix.mtx.gz is CORRUPT in the GEO deposit (gzip-invalid, ~92% truncated, byte-identical on re-download) - a real data-availability defect flagged for the reviewer - and doublet/QC-order details are under-specified. C3 (CellChat, the named tool): attempted on «our HPC»; correct 1.1.3 source identified (untagged commit af7e152) and a Seurat env built, but the install stalled on a graphics-only dependency (harfbuzz/freetype) and, more fundamentally, the exact qualitative L-R claim needs the authors' unshipped cell annotations - so we stopped per the 80/20 rule rather than fabricate. NOT attempted: mIHC/spatial K(r) imaging results (wet-lab), Cell Ranger re-alignment from FASTQ (its output - the matrices - is already deposited), and the GSE176021/GSE190265 GSEA validations (directional, multi-dataset). All heavy compute ran on «our HPC»/«infra»; «host» holds only small results + pointers.
These records describe the outcome of reproduction attempts carried out autonomously by brainbox using large language models (LLMs). They are not peer review, not an audit, and not a determination of error or misconduct by any author. A verdict reflects what one attempt could or could not reproduce — which may depend on data access, undocumented parameters, the computing environment, or the depth of effort — and not a judgement of the people who did the work. We can be wrong, and we correct mistakes quickly: every record carries a “report an error” button.
Assessment versions
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v1 current initial assessment Score 40assessed: 2026-06-15 ⛓ e15631f3c130
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Provenance — full disclosure
When this reproduction was carried out, which methodology version was used, and by whom — so the record can be audited and checked independently.
- Reproduced
- 2026-06-15
- Rubric version
- v1.0
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🤖 AI curator · claude (ai-curator room) · v1.0 · run #1 2026-06-15no human curator yet
- Last updated
- 2026-08-05
Provisional, curator- or AI-assessed, and independently checkable. A reproduction outcome states what one attempt could reproduce — not a judgement of the authors.
Deep full-text extraction
Model: opusThe paper investigates the mechanisms by which adding PD-1 blockade (pembrolizumab) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy augments anti-tumor immune responses in resectable NSCLC, hypothesizing that it remodels the tumor immune microenvironment by recruiting specific T and B cell subsets.
- ★ Adding PD-1 blockade to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAPC) increases tumor infiltration of CD20+ B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD127+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD8+CD127+ and CD8+KLRG1+ T cells, whereas NAC alone increases only CD20+ B cells. finding
- ★ NAPC skews tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells toward CD127+ and KLRG1+ (memory/effector) phenotypes, potentially assisted by CD4+ T cells and B cells. mechanism
- ★ Synergistic increase in B and T cells promotes favorable pathological therapeutic response after NAPC. finding
- ★ NAPC improves pathological response (MPR/pCR) and survival (DFS, OS) compared to NAC in NSCLC patients. finding
- ★ CD8+ T cells and their CD127+/KLRG1+ subsets are in closer spatial proximity to CD4+ T/CD20+ B cells in NAPC versus NAC. finding
- ★ B-cell, CD4, memory, and effector CD8 signatures correlate with therapeutic responses and clinical outcomes (validated in GEO dataset). finding
- CD8+ T cells in NAPC highly express cytotoxic genes (GZMK, IFNG) and CXCR3 and lowly express exhaustion genes (CTLA4, PDCD1, HAVCR2, TIGIT) compared with NAC. finding
- MPR patients in NAPC have higher CD8 cytotoxic score and lower exhausted score, with pro-inflammatory cytokines enriched in MPR and anti-inflammatory cytokines in non-MPR. finding
| Assay | System | Perturbation | Readout | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) | CD45+ immune cells from surgically resected fresh tumors of 7 NSCLC patients (6 NAPC, 1 NAC) | neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) vs neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (NAPC) | single-cell transcriptomes, immune cell cluster composition, gene expression | — |
| multiplex fluorescent immunohistochemistry (mIHC) | FFPE tumor tissues from 65 resectable NSCLC patients before and after treatment | NAC vs NAPC, pre- vs post-treatment | proportions of CD20+ B cells, CD4+/CD8+ T cell subsets (CD127+, KLRG1+, FoxP3+) infiltration; spatial proximity | — |
| GEO dataset validation (gene signature/transcriptomic analysis) | public NSCLC patient cohort (GEO dataset) | none | correlation of B-cell, CD4, memory and effector CD8 signatures with therapeutic response and clinical outcomes | — |
| GSEA / signature scoring (AddModuleScore in Seurat) | scRNA-seq CD8+ T cells from NAC and NAPC tumors | NAC vs NAPC; MPR vs non-MPR | lymphocyte subpopulation signature enrichment, cytotoxic and exhausted scores | Seurat |
- ▲ NAPC achieved higher MPR rate than NAC (23/35 vs 6/30) 65.7% vs 20%
- ▲ pCR achieved in NAPC group but no patients in NAC group 45.7% (16/35) vs 0%
- ▲ NAPC group had significantly longer DFS than NAC HR=0.3216 (95% CI 0.1455–0.7105)
- ▲ NAPC group had significantly longer OS than NAC HR=0.2368 (95% CI 0.1043–0.5376)
- ▲ NAPC increased infiltration of CD20+ B, CD4+, CD4+CD127+, CD8+, CD8+CD127+ and CD8+KLRG1+ T cells post vs pre-treatment; NAC increased only CD20+ B cells
- ▲ CD8+, CD8+CD127+ and CD8+KLRG1+ T cell ratios significantly higher in post-NAPC vs post-NAC
- ▲ In NAPC, CD20+ B, CD4+, CD8+, CD8+CD127+ and CD8+KLRG1+ cells significantly elevated in MPR but not non-MPR patients after treatment
- ▲ CD4+CD127+ T cells slightly higher in pemetrexed-treated (adenocarcinoma) vs paclitaxel-treated (squamous) patients in NAC group
- pvalue P < 0.0001 (MPR rate difference between NAC and NAPC groups)
- pvalue HR=0.3216, 95% CI 0.1455–0.7105, P = 0.0031 (DFS NAPC vs NAC)
- pvalue HR=0.2368, 95% CI 0.1043–0.5376, P = 0.0016 (OS NAPC vs NAC)
- count 26,861 single-cell transcriptomes (4,057 NAC, 22,804 NAPC) (scRNA-seq cells obtained after quality filtering)
- count 29 distinct clusters (unsupervised clustering of single-cell transcriptomes)
- count MPR 65.7% (23/35) NAPC vs 20% (6/30) NAC (major pathological response rates)
- count pCR 45.7% (16/35) NAPC vs 0% NAC (pathological complete response rates)
- pvalue P = 0.0116 (CD4+CD127+ T cells higher in pemetrexed vs paclitaxel patients in NAC)
Statistical methods review
Model: sonnetA neutral, descriptive read of the statistical approach — what was done, and (for shared learning, not as criticism) what could also have been done.
This study used a multi-modal design pairing scRNA-seq (n=7 patients) with multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC; n=65 patients) to characterize tumor-infiltrating immune cell changes in NSCLC before and after NAC or NAPC. TIL proportion comparisons across pre/post-treatment groups used the Kruskal-Wallis test; treatment-response subgroup dynamics were evaluated with two-way ANOVA. Survival outcomes were reported with hazard ratios and 95% CIs, and scRNA-seq data were interrogated with GSEA and Seurat-based DEG analysis, with findings externally validated in a GEO dataset.
| Test | Applied to | n | Assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple comparisons | Comparison of CD20+ B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD127+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, CD8+CD127+ T cells, and CD8+KLRG1+ T cells across pre/post-NAC and pre/post-NAPC groups (Fig. 3c–h) | Pre-NAC n=16, Post-NAC n=30, Pre-NAPC n=23, Post-NAPC n=30 | not stated |
| Two-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons | Comparison of TIL proportions in non-MPR vs MPR patients before and after treatment in NAC and NAPC groups (Fig. 4a, b) | NAC: Pre-NR n=13, Post-NR n=24, Pre-R n=3, Post-R n=6; NAPC: Pre-NR n=6, Post-NR n=10, Pre-R n=17, Post-R n=20 | not stated |
| Cox proportional hazards regression or log-rank test (not explicitly named; implied by hazard ratio reporting) | DFS and OS comparison between NAC and NAPC groups (Supplementary Fig. 1b, c) | NAC n=30, NAPC n=35 | not stated |
| Chi-square or Fisher's exact test (not explicitly named) | Comparison of clinicopathological characteristics between NAC and NAPC groups (Table 1) | NAC n=30, NAPC n=35 | not stated |
| Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) | Detection of lymphocyte subpopulation signatures differentially enriched in NAC vs NAPC scRNA-seq data (Fig. 1f) | 26,861 single-cell transcriptomes: 4,057 NAC, 22,804 NAPC | not stated |
| Seurat-based DEG analysis (underlying test not named; Seurat default is Wilcoxon rank-sum); inclusion criteria: Log2FC > 0.25, p < 0.05, min.pct > 0.1 | Differential expression of CD8+ T cells between NAC and NAPC, and between CD8+KLRG1+ vs CD8+KLRG1- cells (Fig. 2d; Supplementary Fig. 4) | null | not stated |
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The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied to all four groups (pre/post × NAC/NAPC) treating every sample as independent, even though a subset of patients contributed matched pre- and post-treatment specimens.↳ Could also: A linear mixed-effects model or a repeated-measures design explicitly modelling patient as a random effect would also be appropriate for the mixed paired/unpaired structure. — Accounting for within-patient pairing uses each patient as their own control, can increase power by reducing between-subject variance, and avoids treating paired observations as independent—which can affect type I error.
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Two-way ANOVA was used to compare TIL proportions across response (MPR/non-MPR) and timepoint (pre/post) subgroups, without reporting a normality assessment; some cell counts were very small (e.g., Pre-R n=3 in NAC).↳ Could also: An aligned rank transform (ART) ANOVA or a permutation-based factorial test would also be applicable to proportion data that may not meet normality assumptions. — Cell-proportion data are bounded between 0 and 1 and can be skewed, particularly in small subgroups; rank-based or permutation alternatives do not require normality and may be more appropriate when cell sizes are as small as n=3.
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Results throughout the mIHC comparisons were summarized as mean ± SD.↳ Could also: Median with interquartile range (IQR), or mean with 95% confidence intervals, would also convey central tendency and spread. — With several small subgroups (n=3 to n=6), 95% CIs communicate estimation uncertainty around the mean, while IQR is often more interpretable than SD for non-symmetric or small-sample distributions.
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scRNA-seq DEG analysis was performed using Seurat's cell-level approach, where individual cells are treated as the statistical unit of replication.↳ Could also: A pseudo-bulk approach—aggregating per-patient count profiles and then applying DESeq2 or edgeR—would also be appropriate for a two-condition (NAC vs NAPC) comparison with patient-level biological replication. — Pseudo-bulk methods use the patient (not the cell) as the unit of replication, account for overdispersion in count data, and control type I error inflation that can arise when thousands of cells from a small number of donors are treated as independent observations.
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Survival outcomes (DFS, OS) were compared between NAC and NAPC using a model yielding unadjusted hazard ratios, without covariate adjustment.↳ Could also: A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression adjusting for key baseline covariates (e.g., T stage, N stage, histology, resection type) would also be standard practice in an observational comparison. — Because patients were not randomized, adjusted Cox regression can reduce confounding from imbalanced baseline characteristics—such as the higher pneumonectomy rate in the NAC group (23.3% vs 8.6%)—when estimating the treatment association with survival.
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The statistical test for Table 1 clinicopathological comparisons was not named, and no formal sample size justification or power calculation was reported.↳ Could also: Explicitly specifying whether chi-square or Fisher's exact test was used (depending on expected cell counts) and reporting a power calculation or effect-size-based sample size rationale would also be standard practice. — Naming the test allows readers to verify its appropriateness for sparse cells (Fisher's exact is preferred when any expected cell count is less than 5); a power calculation contextualizes whether the study was adequately sized to detect differences of a clinically meaningful magnitude.
Result convergence & founder nodes
Findings this paper shares with others that ran a comparable experiment. A node’s strength is how many independent papers report it (replication breadth) — not how often it is cited, so a heavily-replicated but under-cited founder still stands out.
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CD4+CD127+(IL7R+) T cells are slightly higher in pemetrexed-treated adenocarcinoma than paclitaxel-treated squamous NSCLC patients receiving NAC.imaging human nsclc tumor up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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CD8+CD127+(IL7R+) T cell infiltration increases post-treatment in NAPC but not NAC NSCLC tumors.imaging human nsclc tumor up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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KLRG1+CD8+ T cell tumor infiltration is significantly higher in post-NAPC than post-NAC NSCLC.imaging human nsclc tumor up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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NAPC-treated resectable NSCLC patients have significantly longer disease-free survival than NAC-treated patients (HR=0.32).other human nsclc up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy achieves a higher major pathological response rate than chemotherapy alone in resectable NSCLC (65.7% vs 20%).other human nsclc up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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NAPC-treated resectable NSCLC patients have significantly longer overall survival than NAC-treated patients (HR=0.24).other human nsclc up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
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Pathological complete response is achieved in 45.7% of NAPC-treated NSCLC patients versus 0% of NAC-treated patients.other human nsclc up 2023×1papers★ This paper is the founder (earliest)
Citation network
Where this publication sits in the reproducibility-weighted citation graph — what it is built on, and what is built on it. Citation data from OpenAlex.
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Data lineage
The datasets this paper uses (text-mined from the full text via Europe PMC), and which other assessed papers stand on the same data. A shared dataset is a factual link — not a judgement.
Downstream reach in the literature
27 downstream papers · 3 datasetsHow widely the datasets deposited by this paper are reused across the whole literature (Europe PMC), beyond our assessed set. This is a factual dependency map — reusing a public dataset is normal, good science. It is not a judgement on the downstream papers; the only verdict here is this paper's own, with its cited rationale.
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- <i>BCL2A1</i><sup>high</sup>... 2026 · 0 cites
What was reproduced
The exact results taken into scope, with each reported value next to the value our attempt produced.
Scope — pmid-37231145
Paper: Hui et al. 2023, NPJ Precis Oncol. "PD-1 blockade potentiates neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC via increasing CD127+ and KLRG1+ CD8 T cells." DOI 10.1038/s41698-023-00384-x · PMID 37231145.
Datasets (clarification — brief vs paper)
- GSE229353 = the paper's OWN newly generated scRNA-seq (7 NSCLC patients, CD45+
sorted cells, 10x 5'). Ships only
GSE229353_RAW.tar(per-sample MTX/TSV count matrices; no annotation / no processed object). - GSE179994 (named in the brief) = a validation dataset (Liu et al.; 47 GSM / 36 pts NSCLC ICB). Used only in Fig. 7 for signature-enrichment validation. Ships a processed T-cell raw-counts RDS + a T-cell metadata TSV (annotations present, but T cells only — no B/myeloid compartment).
- Code: CellChat (github.com/sqjin/CellChat) is the named third-party tool. Authors' own analysis code is "available on reasonable request" → NOT shipped.
Pipelines named in Methods
- Cell Ranger 3.1.0 (align/quantify, GRCh38) — needs FASTQ (SRA); out of scope (heavy, and the deposited matrices already are its output).
- Seurat 3.2.1 — QC filtering, PCA, clustering (res 0.8), MNN integration, DEGs.
- CellChat 1.1.3 — cell-cell communication (Supplementary Fig. 9).
- clusterProfiler 3.14.3 (GO), GSEA, GSVA, AddModuleScore — signature scoring.
In scope (pipeline-derived, attempted)
| # | Reported result | Pipeline | Reproducibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | 26,861 single-cell transcriptomes total (4,057 NAC / 22,804 NAPC) after QC | Cell Ranger → Seurat 3.2.1 QC (genes 200–6000, UMI≥1000, mito<10%) | HIGH — deterministic filter on shipped matrices |
| C2 | 29 clusters at resolution 0.8 (Fig 1b) | Seurat PCA+MNN+FindClusters | MEDIUM — clustering is version/seed sensitive (within-tol at best) |
| C3 | CellChat: CD4+ T ↔ CD8-CD127+/CD8-KLRG1+ via CXCL12-CXCR4 & IL7-IL7R; B ↔ CD8 subsets via BTLA-TNFRSF14 (Supp Fig 9) | CellChat 1.1.3 | LOW/PARTIAL — requires authors' unshipped cell-type annotation; best-effort qualitative check only |
Out of scope (not pipeline / not attempted)
- mIHC / multispectral imaging proportions (Fig 3), InForm software — wet-lab imaging.
- Spatial bivariate K(r) function (Fig 5) — derived from mIHC images, not scRNA.
- GSEA/GSVA validation in GSE176021, GSE190265 (Fig 7) — directional, multi-dataset; beyond the clean 80%. GSE179994 validation is directional (no exact number printed).
- Cell Ranger re-alignment from FASTQ — heavy, and its output (matrices) is already deposited.
Plan
- C1 (primary): download GSE229353 matrices on «infra», recompute per-cell nGene/ nUMI/mito% directly from MTX, apply the stated QC, count total + per-sample. 1:1 vs 26,861. (Transparent, no Seurat-version dependence for a pure count.)
- C3 (secondary, named tool): best-effort CellChat 1.1.3 on the paper data after a standard cluster+annotate, checking whether the named L-R pairs are inferred. Graded partial. Skip the exact-annotation last 20% (documented).
- C2 reported as a clustering sanity check if cheap; not a hard 1:1 target.
Assessments & scoring basis
Each contributor’s verdict, the per-question basis, and the auditable, itemised worksheet behind it.
An automated assessment. It can flag an open question for review but can never, on its own, record a discrepancy verdict (C5) against a paper.
Automated reproduction checks whether a published result can be regenerated from the paper’s described methods and shared data. When something does not reproduce, that is not a claim of error or misconduct — most often it reflects under-described methods, software or environment differences, or gaps in data access, and some of the pre-print papers in the queue may carry issues their authors had no part in. The goal is shared awareness that rigorous, fully-described methods help everyone — never a judgement of any author.
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Reproduction footprint
claude-opus-4-8Measured resources invested to assess this paper — sanitised (machine class only, no job ids/paths). Compute = HPC accounting (SLURM); tokens = the AI agent's session.