ArticleCell death & disease2025
FGFR4 promotes CAF activation through the CXCL10-CXCR3 axis in colon cancer.
Article in Cell death & disease, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- ATF4 and FGFR4 cooperatively support thyroid cancer progression and CAF-associated tumor-promoting features.Endocrine · 2026Article
- Unveiling CCL5: the master regulator of breast cancer progression and immune evasion.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Review
- Article
- D3aist: data-driven detection of atypical interactions in spatial transcriptomics.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Cytokines and cancer-associated fibroblasts.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- Polyploid and Chromosomal Copy Number Gain Cells in Metastatic Colon Cancer: Exploratory Genotype-Phenotype Correlations.Cancers · 2026Article
- Single-cell analysis reveals the prognostic role of immune escape in the colorectal cancer microenvironment.Translational cancer research · 2026Article
- Psammaplysene D overcomes sorafenib resistance in liver cancer by targeting FGFR4/CYP26A1-retinoic acid axis to drive ferroptosis.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2026Article
- Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Gastrointestinal Cancer Metastasis: Mechanisms and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- The Interaction of PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway with the Tumor Microenvironment: A Dual Engine Driving Breast Cancer Progression and Reshaping Treatment Strategies.Cancer management and research · 2026Review
- Oncofetal reprogramming and cellular plasticity in colorectal cancer: from mechanisms to clinical translation.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- The enhanced cancer nanovaccine by bidirectionally blocking CXCL12/CXCR4 axis to inhibit the recurrence and metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer.Molecular cancer · 2025Article
- Exosomal transfer of miR-223-3p from carcinoma-associated fibroblasts promotes the malignant properties and chemoresistance of colon cancer cells by targeting NF2/Hippo signaling.Medical oncology (Northwood, London, England) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) promote the malignant phenotype of cancer through crosstalk with tumor and immune cells within the tumor microenvironment. Therefore, the mechanisms underlying CAF activation require in-depth study to develop strategies targeting CAFs during cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we investigated the role of FGFR4 in CAF regulation in colon cancer. FGFR4-overexpressing cancer cells promoted CAF abundance and activation in vivo, while also inducing the differentiation of normal fibroblasts into CAFs via their secretome. Mechanistically, FGFR4 induced CXC-chemokine ligand (CXCL) 10 production by upregulating Toll-like receptor 3-interferon regulatory factor-interferon beta (IFNβ) signaling and the autocrine action of IFNβ. CXCL10 increased CAF marker expression in fibroblasts, including alpha-smooth muscle actin and vimentin. CXCL10 also promoted CAF migration, invasion, and contractibility, which reflects CAF activation. In contrast, knocking down CXCL10 or neutralizing antibodies abolished CAF marker expression in fibroblasts. Inhibition of CXC receptor type (CXCR) 3, the cognate receptor of CXCL10, also impaired CAF function. In human colon cancer samples, FGFR4 and CXCL10 expression was positively correlated with CAF marker expression. Finally, dual inhibition of FGFR4 and CXCR3 suppressed tumor growth, accompanied by CAF downregulation. Our findings reveal the mechanism through which FGFR4 promotes CAF differentiation/activation in TME via the CXCL10-CXCR3 axis, highlighting the potential of co-targeting FGFR4 and CXCR3 as a therapeutic strategy for patients with stromal-dominant tumors.
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