Cancer-associated fibroblasts influence Wnt/PCP signaling in gastric cancer cells by cytoneme-based dissemination of ROR2.

ABSTRACT: Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a crucial component in the tumor microenvironment influencing cancer progression. Besides shaping the extracellular matrix, these fibroblasts provide signaling factors to facilitate tumor survival and alter tumor behavior. In gastric cancer, one crucial signaling pathway influencing invasion and metastasis is the Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling. The crucial PCP ligand in this context is WNT5A, which is produced by the CAFs, and gastric cancer cells react upon this signal by enhanced polarized migration. Why gastric cancer cells respond to this signal is still unclear, as their expression level for the central WNT5A receptor, ROR2, is very low. Here, we show that CAFs display long and branched filopodia that form an extensive, complex networ

SUBMITTER: Rogers S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10523461 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature