Periostin secreted by cancer-associated fibroblasts promotes cancer stemness in head and neck cancer by activating protein tyrosine kinase 7.

Protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play important roles in cancer stemness, respectively. However, little is known about interaction between CAFs and PTK7 in cancers. In this study, we showed that PTK7 was significantly correlated with the Wnt/β-Catenin pathway and aggressive clinicopathologic features in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Meanwhile, animal experiments showed that PTK7 enhanced chemoresistance and lung metastasis of HNSCC in vivo. In addition, co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) assay demonstrated that POSTN secreted by CAFs was a potential upstream ligand of PTK7 which might act as a receptor. Further analysis revealed that POSTN promoted the cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotype via PTK7-Wnt/β-Catenin signaling, including the proliferation and invasion of HNSCC cells in vitro, as well as tumor initiation and progression in vivo. Collectively, our study proved that CAF-derived POSTN might promote cancer stemness via interacting with PTK7 in HNSCC, suggesting that the combination of POSTN and PTK7 might be a potential prognostic and diagnostic indicator and a  promising therapeutic target.