iS2C2: a cointelligent platform for mechanistic discovery of disease cellular crosstalk
Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated impressive capabilities in summarization, reasoning, and content generation, yet their inability to directly interpret large-scale omics data has limited their utility in data-driven hypothesis generation-particularly in mechanism discovery that demands the integration and interpretation of multimodal datasets, heterogeneous models, and deep domain expertise. Conversely, traditional computational algorithms excel at quantitative analysis of omics data but often rely heavily on labor-intensive, expert-driven interpretation to extract biologically meaningful insights. Here, we introduce (cointelligent single-cell spatial cell‒cell communication: iS2C2), a novel cointelligent platform that synergizes mathematically rigorous computational algorithms with the contextual reasoning capabilities of LLMs to automatically generate biologically interpretable hypotheses from single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics data. The iS2C2 platform incorporates a transparent and reproducible cell-cell communication analysis pipeline built upon mathematically rigorous algorithms designed to enhance interpretability for integration with LLMs that contextualize algorithmic outputs or predictions using domain-specific knowledge and literature-derived evidence. When applied to Alzheimer's disease and cancer datasets, iS2C2 generated accurate, reproducible, and expert-validated hypotheses, unveiling previously unrecognized signaling pathways and mechanistic insights in disease microenvironments. This cointelligent approach bridges the gap between structured computational analysis and generative reasoning, heralding a paradigm shift toward fully automated, interpretable biological discovery and advancing the frontiers of next-generation precision medicine and systems biology.
Authors
- Stephen T.C. Wong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9188-6502)
- Jianting Sheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3532-3259)
- Doo Yeon Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6969-0340)
- Michael Chan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1949-1666)
- Alireza Faridar
- Xiang H.-F. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5674-8670)
- Wenjuan Dong
- Zhan Xu
- Ying Zhu
- Yuanyuan Zhu
- Dongxue Mao
- Daniel Kermany
- Yunfeng Ding
- Zhihao Wan
- Li Yang
- Hong Zhao
- Xiaohui Yu
- Zheng Yin
- Matthew Vasquez
- Zhigang Ji
- Lin Wang
- Amna Irfan
- Ju Young Ahn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0946-4157)
- Shaohua Qi
- Fengshuo Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4651-7710)
- Hongxia Wang
- Yuliang Cao
Institutions
- Houston Methodist (US)
- The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (US)
- Baylor College of Medicine (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Ben Taub Hospital (US)
- Massachusetts General Hospital (US)
- Methodist Hospital (US)
- Methodist Hospital (US)
- Children's Cancer Center (US)
- Rice University (US)
- Texas A&M University (US)
- Bryan College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy
- Published
- 2026-05-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-026-02691-8
- Primary Topic
- Biotin and Related Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Cure Alzheimer's Fund
- National Institutes of Health
- Houston Methodist Research Institute