Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the MIF-ACKR3 receptor-ligand interaction between iCAFs and tumor cells in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a malignant tumor of the gastrointestinal tract with a high morbidity and mortality rate. The heterogeneity of ESCC poses challenges in treatment and contributes to the poor prognosis of patients. Therefore, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of the tumor microenvironment (TME) heterogeneity and identify novel therapeutic targets. To solve this problem, we performed a single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of ESCC samples obtained from the GEO database. A total of 31,283 single cells were categorized into nine cell types, which included four non-immune cells (epithelial cells, endothelial cells, fibroblasts, schwann cells) and five immune cells (T cells, macrophages, mast cells, neutrophils, B cells). Our study revealed the presence of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments in ESCC. We have also identified not only inflammatory cancer-associated fibroblast (iCAFs) and myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (myCAFs) but also a subset of antigen presenting cancer-associated fibroblasts (apCAFs) which express high levels of HLA class II molecules in ESCC. Furthermore, our analysis of cell communication showed up-regulation of MIF-ACKR3 interaction between iCAFs and tumor cells in tumors compared to normal tissues. Finally, it was demonstrated that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) facilitates tumor cell migration and invasion through interacting with ACKR3 in vitro. This study exposes the features of the tumor microenvironment of ESCC via scRNA-seq and examines the dynamics of various cellular subpopulations, thus facilitating the identification of future therapeutic targets for ESCC. •We characterized the tumor microenvironment of ESCC and analyzed the dynamics of various cell subpopulations in the ESCC.•Our study revealed the presence of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in ESCC.•We demonstrated that iCAFs could promote tumor cells migration and invasion through the MIF/ACKR3 axis in vitro.