Global interaction analysis identifies key players in cellular communication within TB-diseased lung tissues. (A) Heatmap visualization of interaction flux analysis. Rows represent sender cell types; columns represent receiver cell types. Each entry represents the potential flux of interaction from sender cell to receiver cell, whereas the total flux of each sender cell type is summarized on the left. Sender cell types are sorted based on descending order of total flux (Materials and methods). (B) Top: Bar plot showing top 30 and bottom 30 ligands by log fold-change of interaction strength between TB and control lungs across all sender cell types. Bottom: Log fold-change of interaction strength between TB and control lungs in each sender cell type (Materials and methods). (C) Dot plot of top five ligand by ligand activity in TB-diseased lungs secreted by MMP1⁺CXCL5⁺ fibroblasts and their receivers (Materials and methods). (D) L–R interactions with MMP1⁺CXCL5⁺ fibroblasts in the TB-diseased lungs; rows (L–R pair) and columns (target cell types) are hierarchically clustered by correlation distance (Materials and methods). L–R, ligand–receptor.