Functional Heterogeneity of Cancer-Associated Stromal Fibroblasts Show Differential Gene Expression Profile in Chondrosarcoma. Functional Heterogeneity of Cancer-Associated Stromal Fibroblasts Show Differential Gene Expression Profile in Chondrosarcoma

The project aims to identify functional heterogeneity of cancer-associated stromal fibroblasts (CAF) which show specific gene expression profile in Chondrosarcoma (CS). The current knowledge of the role of CAF in the tumour microenvironment in CS regulating the expression of tumour cells is limited. In this study, we have determined the capability of primary CAFs to promote tumorigenesis of CS cancer cells. In order to confirm whether the primary fibroblast have activated features, we performed indirect co- culture (Trans- well migration assay) with CS tumour cell lines. On the basis of this migration assay we have identified that each primary fibroblast exhibited different induction of migration of CS tumour cells. This differential pro- migratory capacity of CAFs will help identifying a gene expression signature that allows classification of patients with CS into high and low risk groups by RNA- sequencing