Zhang Dan, Lu Jun
Department of Medical Oncology, Beijing YouAn Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Laboratory for Clinical Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Front Immunol. 2025 Jul 8;16:1618254. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1618254. eCollection 2025.
Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are an unconventional lymphocyte subset that has garnered increasing attention due to their shared features with both natural killer cells and conventional T cells, as well as their unique dual immunological functions. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to trace the evolution of research in the iNKT cell field, identify emerging trends, and highlight current research hotspots and frontier directions.
We performed a literature search in the Web of Science Core Collection database to retrieve all publications related to iNKT cells published to December 31, 2024. We then used the visualization tools CiteSpace and VOSviewer to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the retrieved data.
We identified 2,579 relevant publications authored by 12,108 individuals from 2,218 institutions across 70 countries. These publications appeared in 540 journals and collectively cited 60,342 references from 4,322 different journals. The publication volume in the iNKT cell field has significantly increased since 2008, peaking at 151 articles in 2018. This surge highlights the sharp rise of research interest in this area. The United States led in publication output within this field. Among the journals, the Journal of Immunology was the most prolific and also ranked first in total citations. Besra was the most published author, while Bendelac's research was highly influential. Research on iNKT cells is undergoing a paradigm shift from mechanistic exploration to clinical application.
Our bibliometric analysis delineates the thematic evolution within the iNKT cell research landscape. Future investigations will converge on several pivotal frontiers, including improving the tumor microenvironment, reprogramming the functional activity of iNKT cells within tumors, and advancing engineered immunotherapies. Additionally, strategies to engineer iNKT cells for more targeted and effective therapeutic interventions are likely to gain momentum, as researchers aim to overcome the current limitations in the field and transition from basic mechanistic studies to more impactful clinical applications.
不变自然杀伤T（iNKT）细胞是一种非常规淋巴细胞亚群，因其兼具自然杀伤细胞和传统T细胞的特征以及独特的双重免疫功能而受到越来越多的关注。在本研究中，我们进行了全面的文献计量分析，以追踪iNKT细胞领域的研究演变，识别新出现的趋势，并突出当前的研究热点和前沿方向。
我们在科学网核心合集数据库中进行文献检索，以获取截至2024年12月31日发表的所有与iNKT细胞相关的出版物。然后，我们使用可视化工具CiteSpace和VOSviewer对检索到的数据进行文献计量分析。
我们识别出2579篇相关出版物，作者来自70个国家的2218个机构，共12108人。这些出版物发表在540种期刊上，共引用了来自4322种不同期刊的60342篇参考文献。自2008年以来，iNKT细胞领域的出版物数量显著增加，在2018年达到151篇的峰值。这一激增凸显了该领域研究兴趣的急剧上升。美国在该领域的出版物产出方面领先。在期刊中，《免疫学杂志》发表的文章最多，总被引次数也排名第一。贝斯拉是发表文章最多的作者，而本德拉克的研究具有高度影响力。iNKT细胞的研究正在经历从机制探索到临床应用的范式转变。
我们的文献计量分析描绘了iNKT细胞研究领域的主题演变。未来的研究将集中在几个关键前沿领域，包括改善肿瘤微环境、重新编程肿瘤内iNKT细胞的功能活性以及推进工程化免疫疗法。此外，随着研究人员旨在克服该领域目前的局限性并从基础机制研究转向更具影响力的临床应用，设计iNKT细胞以进行更有针对性和有效的治疗干预的策略可能会更受关注。
