Distinct cellular subtypes involved in neural invasion in pancreatic cancer uncovered!
Peri- and intra-neural microenvironment and their roles in cancer-neural invasion (NI) are not well characterized.
The researchers integrate sc/snRNA-seq with spatial transcriptomics of 62 samples from 25 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients to characterize cellular composition, lineage dynamics, and spatial architecture in PDAC tissues with varying neural invasion status.
They observe distinct peri- and intra-neural microenvironments.
The authors found abundant tertiary lymphoid structures in low NI tumor tissues and co-localize with non-invaded nerves, while NLRP3+ macrophages and cancer-associated myofibroblasts surround invaded nerves in high-NI tissues.
They identify TGFBI+ Schwann cells locate at the leading edge of NI, can be induced by transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling, promote tumor cell migration, and correlate with poor survival. and thus, TGFBI+ Schwann cells act as promoters of neural invasion.
https://www.cell.com/cancer-cell/fulltext/S1535-6108(25)00270-3
https://sciencemission.com/neural-invasion-in-pancreatic-cancer
