ArticleActa biochimica et biophysica Sinica2022
Single-cell analysis reveals that cancer-associated fibroblasts stimulate oral squamous cell carcinoma invasion via the TGF-β/Smad pathway.
Article in Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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30 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Identification of cancer-associated fibroblast biomarkers in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.Oncology letters · 2026Article
- HPRT1 drives mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming and immunosuppressive microenvironment in oral squamous cell carcinoma.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Article
- TGF‑β1 in cancer: From tumour suppressor to promoter, molecular mechanisms, and precision therapeutic strategies (Review).International journal of oncology · 2026Review
- Role of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in malignancies: current status and future prospects.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- The Origin of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in Brain Metastases: Seven Hypotheses and Current Evidence.Cancers · 2026Review
- SHH drives gastric cancer-associated fibroblast activation via ACLY-dependent acetyl-CoA metabolism and histone acetylation.Discover oncology · 2026Article
- Article
- Cytokines and cancer-associated fibroblasts.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Saikosaponin D and paeoniflorin improve the HCC immune microenvironment via CLCF1/PD-L1 mediated crosstalk between CAFs and tumor cells.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Chorus line in oral squamous cell carcinoma: How stromal and immune players orchestrate tumor progression (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Unraveling the impact of cancer-associated fibroblasts on lymphatic metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Cellular oncology (Dordrecht, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- FOXL2 + cancer-associated fibroblasts enhances epithelial ovarian cancer development via TGFβ/Smad signaling.BMC cancer · 2025Article
- Roles of Wnt ligands and receptors in oral squamous cell carcinoma.Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B · 2025Review
- HAS1Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2025Article
- Exploring Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in OSCC and OPMDs: Microenvironment Insights. Scoping Review.Oral diseases · 2025Article
- CAFs-derived TIAM1 Promotes OSCC Cell Growth and Metastasis by Regulating ZEB2.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2025Article
- Transcriptome analysis revealed SMURF2 as a prognostic biomarker for oral cancer.Journal of applied genetics · 2025Article
- Desmoglein-2 was a novel cancer-associated fibroblasts-related biomarker for oral squamous cell carcinoma.BMC oral health · 2025Article
- Mechanisms of immunotherapy in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in the tumor microenvironment.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Recent advances in biomarker detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Although substantial progress has been made in cancer biology and treatment, the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is still not satisfactory because of local tumor invasion and frequent lymph node metastasis. The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a potential target in which cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are of great significance due to their interactions with cancer cells. However, the exact mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, we focus on the crosstalk between cancer cells and CAFs and discover that CAFs are the main source of TGF-β1. Transwell assays and western blot analysis further prove that CAFs activate the TGF-β1/Smad pathway to promote OSCC invasion. Through survival analysis, we confirm that CAF overexpression is correlated with poor overall survival in OSCC. To further elucidate the origin and role of CAFs in OSCC, we analyze single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from 14 OSCC tumor samples and identify four distinct cell types, including CAFs, in the TME, indicating high intratumoral heterogeneity. Then, two subtypes of CAFs, namely, myofibroblasts (mCAFs) and inflammatory CAFs (iCAFs), are further distinguished. Based on the differentially upregulated genes of mCAFs and iCAFs, GO enrichment analysis reveals their different roles in OSCC progression. Furthermore, the gene expression pattern is dynamically altered across pseudotime, potentially taking part in the transformation from epithelial to mCAFs or iCAFs through the epithelial to mesenchymal transition.
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