Fig. 1: Origin heterogeneity of CAFs.
From: The role of cancer-associated fibroblasts in tumorigenesis of gastric cancer
CAFs comprise a complex and heterogeneous group of cells. This heterogeneity might be attributed to the diversity of CAF origins. Numerous cells can be activated and recruited as CAF precursors, such as (1) NFs, (2) epithelial cells (through the epithelial-mesenchymal transition; EMT), (3) endothelial cells (through the endothelial-mesenchymal transition; EndMT), (4) peritumoral adipocytes, (5) pericytes, (6) hematopoietic stem cells, (7) bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), and (8) cancer stem cells. It has been indicated that NFs can be educated and further transformed into CAFs through cytokine and chemokine activation in GC. Furthermore, CAFs can also arise from cancer stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and BMSCs.
