Fig. 3

Myeloid cells are capable of differentiating into apCAFs. A Pseudotime analysis results of myeloid cells and CAFs in human HNSCC reveal the differentiation trajectory from myeloid cells to CAFs. B Pseudotime analysis results of myeloid cells and CAFs in mouse HNSCC show the differentiation trajectory from myeloid cells to CAFs. C Illustration of the lineage tracing strategy in Lyz2-Cre/ROSA-mTmG mice, where green fluorescent protein (GFP) is activated following the Cre-mediated excision of a stop codon specific to macrophages, leading to continuous expression of GFP within the myeloid cell lineage. D Immunofluorescence staining results of OSCC tissue in Lyz2-Cre/ROSA-mTmG mice show a significant presence of cells co-expressing GFP and PDGFRB protein in the tumor stroma. E Flow cytometry results indicate the proportion of cells co-expressing GFP and PDGFRB protein in OSCC of Lyz2-Cre/ROSA-mTmG mice (Q2 quadrant). F RT-qPCR analysis represents the increased gene expression levels of PDGFRA, PDGFRB, FAP, ACTA2, VIMENTIN, and CD74 in the THP-1 cell following 12 h of stimulation with the CAL 27, SCC25 and SCC9 cell-conditioned medium. G Western blot analysis represents the increased protein expression levels of CD74 and FAP in the THP-1 cells after 24 h of stimulation with CAL27 SCC25 and SCC9 cell-conditioned medium. Statistics are shown in mean ± SD (F) accessed by the unpaired t test. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001; ns, nonsignificant, respectively