Investigation of novel CAF functions by analysis of Glycan structures on the surface of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) of pancreatic cancer.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K15520
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 50010:Tumor biology-related
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: Miyazaki Yoshihiro 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 講師 (90909433)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 膵癌 / 癌関連線維芽細胞 / 腫瘍微小環境

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We aimed to elucidate the glycan structures of therapeutic targets of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in pancreatic cancer by “simultaneous single-cell gene glycan analysis (scGR-seq)”. We performed scGR-seq analysis on three clinical pancreatic cancer samples. Although we initially planned to analyze only the CAF fraction, we decided to analyze the entire tumor in order to obtain an overall picture of the tumor. Among 16 clusters classified by gene expression and glycan expression, CAFs corresponded to two clusters, iCAF (inflammatory CAF)-like and myCAF (myoblastic CAF)-like, and their specific glycans are now being verified by tissue staining.

Free Research Field

消化器外科

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

臨床膵癌3検体について、「一細胞遺伝子糖鎖同時解析(scGR-seq)」を行った。当初CAF分画のみの解析を予定していたが、全体像の把握のため腫瘍全体の解析とした。遺伝子発現と糖鎖発現から16のクラスターに分類した。遺伝子発現と糖鎖発現から分類した16クラスターのうち、CAFは２つに相当した。iCAF(inflammatory CAF)-likeとmyCAF (myoblastic CAF)-likeの２つのクラスターとなり、それらに特異的な糖鎖について組織染色で検証中である。今後新規CAF標的治療薬の開発への足掛かりとなることが期待される。