Single-cell and spatial-resolved profiling reveals cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity in colorectal cancer metabolic subtypes

Bibliographic Details
Title: Single-cell and spatial-resolved profiling reveals cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity in colorectal cancer metabolic subtypes
Authors: Youpeng Wang, Xingfeng Qiu, Qinghai Li, Jiale Qin, Lvlan Ye, Xiang Zhang, Xingxiang Huang, Xiangqiong Wen, Ziyang Wang, Weiling He, Yuqin Di, Qi Zhou
Source: Journal of Translational Medicine, Vol 23, Iss 1, Pp 1-18 (2025)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2025.
Publication Year: 2025
Collection: LCC:Medicine
Subject Terms: Colorectal cancer, Single-cell RNA sequencing, Cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF), Chemoresistance, Medicine
More Details: Abstract Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) presents significant treatment challenges due to its high heterogeneity and complex intercellular interactions. Further exploration of CRC subtypes and interactions among tumor-specific clusters will facilitate the development of personalized treatment strategies. Methods Single-cell RNA sequencing and bulk RNA sequencing datasets were integrated to determine CRC metabolic subtypes by hierarchical clustering. The analysis was further extended to cellchat, pseudotime, immune infiltration, and clinicopathological relevance to explore the characteristics of secreted frizzled related protein 2 (SFRP2) + cancer-associated fibroblast (CAF) clusters, and validated by spatial transcriptomics (ST), in vivo experiments, and multiple immunohistochemistry (mIHC). Results CRC samples were stably classified into three heterogeneous metabolic subtypes, each exhibiting different microenvironment and CAF heterogeneity, particularly in the distribution of SFRP2 + CAF, which was aligned with metabolic activity. SFRP2 + CAF exhibits high extracellular matrix (ECM) activity and is closely involved in cellular communication, not only promoting the malignant progression of cancer cells but also inducing the differentiation of Tregs. Compared to responders of chemotherapy, the proportion of SFRP2 + CAFs is significantly increased in non-responders. Importantly, mIHC and ST analyses confirm that cancer cells with low expression of agmatinase (AGMAT) can recruit SFRP2 + CAFs, and Treg infiltration surrounding SFRP2 + CAFs was observed. AGMAT combined with oxaliplatin showed the best efficacy in vivo, which may be associated with the inhibition of SFRP2 + CAF infiltration. Conclusions Our study identified and described the potential protumor biological properties of SFRP2 + CAFs, and AGMAT may be a valuable target for disrupting their properties.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1479-5876
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1479-5876
DOI: 10.1186/s12967-025-06103-3
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/e9f72ffe8bca421eb9020e0c2add3a10
Accession Number: edsdoj.9f72ffe8bca421eb9020e0c2add3a10
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
Full text is not displayed to guests.
More Details
ISSN:14795876
DOI:10.1186/s12967-025-06103-3
Published in:Journal of Translational Medicine
Language:English