Single-cell and bulk transcriptomics identifies a tumor-specific CD36+cancer-associated fibroblast subpopulation in colorectal cancer

Dear Editor,Cancer-associated fibroblasts(CAFs)are highly ver-satile and plastic cells in the tumor microenvironment.They have been identified as actively involved in can-cer progression and metastasis through their various roles in remodeling the extracellular matrix,suppressing the immune response and reprogramming tumor metabolism[1].However,many challenges exist in revealing the func-tional phenotypes and mechanisms of CAFs in different cancers due to limited understanding of CAF hetero-geneity[2].