Pancreatic Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Research

Pancreatic cancer (PC) possesses a dense and fibrotic desmoplastic stroma. The pancreatic tumor microenvironment (TME) mainly consists of extracellular matrix, resident and recruited cells, and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which play a crucial role in tumor progression and metastasis, metabolism, angiogenesis, and treatment resistance, such as immunosuppression and chemoresistance. Among them, CAFs are key components of the pancreatic TME. In addition to maintaining the extracellular matrix, CAFs are also involved in complex crosstalk with infiltrating immunocytes and pancreatic cancer cells. Thus, CAFs serve as potential targets for developing PDAC therapeutic strategies.

Fig. 1 The crosstalk between CAFs, cancer cells, and immune cells. (Zhang, T.; et al., 2022)

Overview of Pancreatic Cancer Fibroblast

CAFs are characterized by tissue-resident, spindle-shaped, originating from different pancreatic cell types, including resident fibroblasts (the most prominent source), pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs), and epithelial cells. As the major non-neoplastic component of pancreatic TME, CAFs promote the formation of the desmoplastic stroma by secreting extracellular matrix proteins and regulating cancer progression by influencing cytokines/chemokine production. In addition, CAFs have also been reported to play an integral role in therapy resistance, including immunosuppression and chemoresistance. All these factors make CAFs potential therapeutic targets for treating pancreatic cancer.

Fig. 2 The cellular origins of cancer-associated fibroblasts. (Manoukian, P.; et al., 2021)

Our Services

Alfa Cytology is a leading global life sciences company. We have an in-depth understanding of pancreatic cancer cells and other components. Here, we offer different preclinical models of pancreatic CAFs to help our global customers develop successful CAF-targeted therapeutic regimens.

In addition to these preclinical models of pancreatic CAFs, we also offer services, including but not limited to the following.

• Isolation and culture of pancreatic CAFs.
• Characterization of pancreatic CAFs. CAFs can be characterized by immunohistochemical staining with vimentin-rabbit polyclonal IgG antibody, monoclonal mouse anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibody, and monoclonal mouse anti-actin α-smooth muscle (α-SMA) antibody.
• Functional analysis of pancreatic CAFs, such as the migration capacity of fibroblasts.

Applications of Our Services

The important and diverse functions of CAFs in pancreatic TME make them ideal targets for pancreatic cancer therapy. Significant efforts have been made in preclinical studies and clinical trials, with varying degrees of success. Our services are available to advance preclinical studies primarily targeting CAFs.

Why Choose Us?

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Alfa Cytology has a professional team of scientists and more than 10 years of cell isolation and culture experience. We provide deep-going pancreatic cancer-associated fibroblast research services. Whatever the size and complexity of your project, please contact us for a professional, competitively-priced solution that fits your needs.

References

1. Zhang T, et al. Cancer-associated fibroblasts in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cell Death Dis. 2022;13(10):897. doi:10.1038/s41419-022-05351-1
2. Manoukian P, et al. The Cellular Origins of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts and Their Opposing Contributions to Pancreatic Cancer Growth. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021;9:743907. doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.743907