Raymant, Meirion and Astuti, Yuliana and Alvaro-Espinosa, Laura and Green, Daniel and Quaranta, Valeria and Bellomo, Gaia and Glenn, Mark and Chandran-Gorner, Vatshala and Palmer, Daniel H. and Halloran, Christopher and Ghaneh, Paula and Henderson, Neil C. and Morton, Jennifer P. and Valiente, Manuel and Mielgo, Ainhoa and Schmid, Michael C. (2024) Macrophage-fibroblast JAK/STAT dependent crosstalk promotes liver metastatic outgrowth in pancreatic cancer. Nature Communications, 15: 3593. ISSN 2041-1723

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Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly metastatic disease for which better therapies are urgently needed. Fibroblasts and macrophages are heterogeneous cell populations able to enhance metastasis, but the role of a macrophage-fibroblast crosstalk in regulating their pro-metastatic functions remains poorly understood. Here we deconvolve how macrophages regulate metastasis-associated fibroblast (MAF) heterogeneity in the liver. We identify three functionally distinct MAF populations, among which the generation of pro-metastatic and immunoregulatory myofibroblastic-MAFs (myMAFs) critically depends on macrophages. Mechanistically, myMAFs are induced through a STAT3-dependent mechanism driven by macrophage-derived progranulin and cancer cell-secreted leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF). In a reciprocal manner, myMAF secreted osteopontin promotes an immunosuppressive macrophage phenotype resulting in the inhibition of cytotoxic T cell functions. Pharmacological blockade of STAT3 or myMAF-specific genetic depletion of STAT3 restores an anti-tumour immune response and reduces metastases. Our findings provide molecular insights into the complex macrophage–fibroblast interactions in tumours and reveal potential targets to inhibit PDAC liver metastasis.

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