Fig. 3: ITGB6 knockout overcomes α-CD276 treatment resistance in mouse HNSCC.

A The tumor growth curves of different groups of mice were plotted. Measurements were taken every 4 days. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated by one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD test. B Display of histological characteristics of HNSCC in different groups by H&E (left) and the representative image of 4NQO-induced HNSCC (right) (n = 8 mice). Scale bar, 100 μm (left) and 1 mm (right). C Quantification of primary tumor incidence in different treatment groups (n = 8 mice). Data are presented as percentages. Statistical significance was assessed using the Pearson chi-square test. P value is exact and two-sided. D, E Quantification of tongue lesion area (D) and SCC number (E) in different treatment groups. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. F Representative images of KI67 IHC staining (left) and quantitation of the percentage of KI67⁺cells (right) in different treatment groups. Scale bar, 50 μm. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. G Representative images of Caspase-3 IHC staining (left) and quantitation of the percentage of Caspase-3⁺cells (right) in different treatment groups. Scale bar, 50 μm. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. H Quantitation of the percentage of Caspase-3⁺ cells in different treatment groups within stromal cells. Data are shown as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. I Representative immunofluorescence (IF) staining images of CD8 (green) and GZMB (red) (left). Statistical analysis of the ratio of CD8⁺ cells (mid) and CD8⁺ GZMB⁺ cells to CD8⁺ cells (CD8T killing capacity) in different treatment groups (right). Scale bar, 25 μm. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 8 mice). P values were calculated by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Source data and exact p values are provided as a Source Data file.