Single-cell RNA sequencing shows the heterogeneity of cancer-associated fibroblast in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma

We identified 5 distinct fibroblast subsets by sequencing 74957 single cells derived from 7 HBV-related HCC tissues, of which the CD36+ CAFs were highlighted, with enriched lipid metabolism and secreting high levels of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). CD36+ CAFs had tight interactions with CD33+ MDSCs through MIF/CD74 axis. Overall design: We performed scRNA-seq derived from 7 HBV-related HCC tissues and 4 adjacent liver tissues

本研究对7例乙型肝炎病毒（hepatitis B virus, HBV）相关肝细胞癌（hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC）组织来源的74957个单细胞进行测序，鉴定出5种不同的成纤维细胞亚群；其中CD36+癌相关成纤维细胞（cancer-associated fibroblasts, CAFs）尤为值得关注，该亚群脂质代谢通路显著富集，并可高分泌巨噬细胞迁移抑制因子（macrophage migration inhibitory factor, MIF）。CD36+ CAFs可通过MIF/CD74轴与CD33+髓系来源抑制细胞（myeloid-derived suppressor cells, MDSCs）形成紧密的相互作用。实验设计概述：本研究对7例HBV相关HCC组织及4例配对癌旁肝组织开展了单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA sequencing, scRNA-seq）