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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Fibroblast Heterogeneity In Pancreatic Cancer Immunity, Josephine Darpolor
Fibroblast Heterogeneity In Pancreatic Cancer Immunity, Josephine Darpolor
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Fibroblasts are a unique cell type defined by their mesenchymal phenotype and exclusion from epithelial, immune, and endothelial cell subsets. Although well studied in wound healing, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are incredibly heterogeneous, leading to contradictions as to the roles CAFs play in the tumor microenvironment (TME). CAFs were thought to be a barrier to treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, general stromal targeting strategies have largely failed in the clinic likely due to the heterogeneity of CAFs in the TME. Therefore, our groups and others have worked to unravel the heterogeneity of CAFs in PDAC. In the works …
Microenvironment-Induced Pten Loss By Exosomal Microrna Primes Brain Metastasis Outgrowth, Lin Zhang
Microenvironment-Induced Pten Loss By Exosomal Microrna Primes Brain Metastasis Outgrowth, Lin Zhang
Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)
Development of life-threatening cancer metastases at distant organs requires disseminated tumor cells’ adaptation to and co-evolution with the drastically different microenvironments of metastatic sites. Cancer cells of common origin manifest distinct gene expression patterns after metastasizing to different organs. Clearly, the dynamic interplay between metastatic tumor cells and extrinsic signals at individual metastatic organ sites critically impacts the subsequent metastatic outgrowth. Yet, it is unclear when and how disseminated tumor cells acquire the essential traits from the microenvironment of metastatic organs that prime their subsequent outgrowth. Here we show that primary tumor cells with normal expression of PTEN, an important …