IMR Press / FBL / Volume 25 / Issue 5 / DOI: 10.2741/4843

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review
Cancer associated fibroblasts: phenotypic and functional heterogeneity
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1 National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, WB, India
Send correspondence to: Sandeep Singh, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, WB, India, 741251, Tel: 91-8647868383, Fax: 91-33-25892151, E-mail: ss5@nibmg.ac.in
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2020, 25(5), 961–978; https://doi.org/10.2741/4843
Published: 1 March 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Elucidation of exosomes role in metastasis)
Abstract

Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the most abundant stromal cell-type in solid tumor-microenvironment (TME) and have emerged as key player in tumor progression. CAFs establish communication with cancer cells through paracrine mechanisms or via direct cell adhesion as well as influence the cancer cell behaviour indirectly by remodelling the extracellular matrix. Although numerous studies have strongly suggested the tumor promoting role of CAFs, few recent reports have revealed the heterogeneity in CAFs. Here, we have summarized the recent findings on the mechanisms related to the heterogeneous behaviour of CAFs serving as positive or negative regulator of tumor progression. Further, reports related to the targeted therapy against CAF-mediated mechanisms are also summarized briefly.

Keywords
Cancer Associated Fibroblasts
Tumor Microenvironment
alpha-Smooth muscle actin
Cancer Stem Cells
Heterogeneity
metastasis
Review
Figures
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