Tumor-initiating cells escape tumor immunity via CCL8 from tumor-associated macrophages in mice.

ABSTRACT: Tumor-initiating cells (TICs) play a key role in cancer progression and immune escape. However, how TICs evade immune elimination remains poorly characterized. Combining single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq), dual-recombinase-based lineage tracing, and other approaches, we identified a WNT-activated subpopulation of malignant cells that act as TICs in vivo. We found intensive reciprocal interactions between TICs and immune-regulatory tumor-associated macrophages (Reg-TAMs) via growth arrest-specific 6/AXL receptor tyrosine kinase/MER proto-oncogene, tyrosine kinase (GAS6/AXL/MERTK) signaling pathways, which facilitated the immune escape of TICs. In this study, we used chemical inhibitors and Axl/Mertk conditional double-KO (cDKO) mice to demonstrate that inhibiting the interaction between TIC-de

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11870738 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature