Identification of a CD106+ pericyte stem cell leading to Ly6G+ cell accumulation responsible for resistance to immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer

We report the identification of a cell population that shares pericyte, stromal and stemness features, does not harbour the KrasG12D mutation and drives tumoral growth in vitro and in vivo. We termed these cells pericyte stem cells (PeSCs) and defined them as CD45-EPCAM-CD29+CD106+CD24+CD44+ cells. Our data reveals the existence of a cell population that instruct immunosuppressive myeloid cell responses to bypass PD-1 targeting and thus suggest potential new approaches for overcoming resistance to immunotherapy in clinical settings. Single cell RNA sequencing was performed in FACS purified ductal tumor cells from a pool of five KC or 4KC mice (LSL-KrasG12D/+;Ptf1a-Cre mice).