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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.10.21.760734

Signal Associa: hot tumors elicit field-spanning NK cell coordination linked to their recruitment

Rostami, M.·Choi, H.·Rho, Y.·Jeon, N. L.·Han, S. J.
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Abstract

Cells coordinate through coupled dynamics, yet whether observed correlations reflect genuine coupling is rarely tested. Signal Associa is an open-source framework uniting six coupling methods with automated stationarization and surrogate testing. Benchmarking against six ground truth systems reveals a trichotomy of coupling regimes, each with a different best method: correlation for coupling carried by shared trends and cycles, Granger causality for linear stochastic coupling, and convergent cross-mapping for nonlinear coupling; agreement across methods identifies the regime from data. In 13 movies of natural killer (NK) cells across three colorectal tumor microenvironments, NK cells formed field-spanning coupling networks at a conserved rate; at matched exposure to tumor signal, NK cells around hot tumors were more globally integrated, and hot tumors with a more integrated NK network tended to attract more NK cells. In focal adhesions, stiffness strengthened vinculin-FAK coupling, most at protruding edges. Surrogates cut lagged-correlation false positives from 23-92% to about 5%.

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Rostami, M., Choi, H., Rho, Y., Jeon, N. L., Han, S. J.. 2026-10-23. Signal Associa: hot tumors elicit field-spanning NK cell coordination linked to their recruitment. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.21.760734

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