Elucidation of the role of RUNX3 in cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs)

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K23119
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0907:Oral science and related fields
• Research Institution: Tokyo Dental College
• Principal Investigator: Koyama Yu 東京歯科大学, 歯学部, 助教 (80875691)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 癌関連線維芽細胞 / RUNX3 / 癌微小環境

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Cancer -associated fibroblasts (CAFs) influence tumor progression by interacting with neighboring cancer cells. Moreover, it is becoming evident that CAFs exhibit a variety of phenotypes. We investigated whether RUNX3, whose expression is upregulated in CAFs, affects the phenotype of CAFs. When RUNX3 expression in CAFs was suppressed using sh-RNA, phenotypic changes were expected in myofibroblastic and inflammatory phenotypes. However, no apparent changes were observed. On the contrary, RNA sequencing of the same cells revealed changes in the expression of several genes; we will explore the impact of these changes on CAFs in further studies.

Free Research Field

癌微小環境

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

癌組織は腫瘍細胞と間質細胞から構成され、それぞれの細胞たちが複雑な相互作用を形成することで癌微小環境を形成している。本研究は微小環境の間質細胞を構成している癌関連線維芽細胞(carcinoma assciated fibroblasts; CAFs)に関する研究である。本研究によってCAFsで上昇しているRUNX3がCAFsにどのような影響を与えるかを探索することによって、将来的なCAFsを標的とした治療開発や診断や予後予測のマーカーの確立の一助となることを期待する。