Intercellular cross-talk through lineage-specific gap junction of cancer-associated fibroblasts related to stromal fibrosis and prognosis.

ABSTRACT: Stromal fibrosis in cancer is usually associated with poor prognosis and chemotherapy resistance. It is thought to be caused by fibroblasts; however, the exact mechanism is not yet well understood. The study aimed to identify lineage-specific cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) subgroup and their associations with extracellular matrix remodeling and clinical significances in various tumor types using single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data. Through unsupervised clustering, six subclusters of CAFs were identified, including a cluster with exclusively high gap junction protein beta-2 (GJB2) expression. This cluster was named GJB2-positive CAF. It was found to be a unique subgroup of terminally differentiated CAFs associated with collagen gene expression and extracellular matrix remodeling. G

SUBMITTER: Cho SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10469165 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature