Exploiting the STAT3 Nexus in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts to Improve Cancer Therapy.

ABSTRACT: The tumor microenvironment (TME) is composed of a heterogenous population of cells that exist alongside the extracellular matrix and soluble components. These components can shape an environment that is conducive to tumor growth and metastatic spread. It is well-established that stromal cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the TME play a pivotal role in creating and maintaining a growth-permissive environment for tumor cells. A growing body of work has uncovered that tumor cells recruit and educate CAFs to remodel the TME, however, the mechanisms by which this occurs remain incompletely understood. Recent studies suggest that the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is a key transcription factor that regulates the function of CAFs, and their crosstalk with tumor an

SUBMITTER: Allam A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8632218 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature