Pericyte-fibroblast transition promotes tumor growth and metastasis

ABSTRACT: Vascular pericytes, an important cellular component, in the tumor microenvironment, are often associated with tumor vasculatures and their functions in cancer invasion and metastasis are poorly understood. Here we show that PDGF-BB induces pericyte fibroblast transition (designated as PFT), which significantly contributes to tumor invasion and metastasis. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments demonstrate that the PDGF-BB-PDGFRβ signaling promotes PFT in vitro and in in vivo tumors. Genome-wide expression analysis indicates that PDGF-BB-activated pericytes acquire mesenchymal progenitor features. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of PDGFRβ ablate the PDGF-BB-induced PFT. Genetic tracing of pericytes with two independent mouse strains, i.e., TN-AP-CreERT2:R26R-tdTomato and N

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

SUBMITTER: Ola Larsson 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-85955 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress