CAFrgDB: a database for cancer-associated fibroblasts related genes and their functions in cancer

As one of the most essential components of the tumor microenvironment (TME), cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) interact extensively with cancer cells and other stromal cells to remodel TME and participate in the pathogenesis of cancer, which earmarked themselves as new promising targets for cancer therapy. Numerous studies have highlighted the heterogeneity and versatility of CAFs in most cancer types. Thus, the identification and appropriate use of CAF-related genes (CAFGenes) in the context of specific cancer types will provide critical insights into disease mechanisms and CAF-related therapeutic targets. In this study, we collected and curated 5421 CAFGenes identified from small- or large-scale experiments, encompassing 4982 responsors that directly or indirectly participate in cancer malignant behaviors managed by CAFs, 1069 secretions that are secreted by CAFs and 281 regulators that contribute in modulating CAFs in human and mouse, which covered 24 cancer types. For these human CAFGenes, we performed gene expression and prognostic marker-based analyses across 24 cancer types using TCGA data. Furthermore, we provided annotations for CAF-associated proteins by integrating the knowledge of protein-protein interaction(s), drug-target relations and basic annotations, from 9 public databases. CAFrgDB (CAF related Gene DataBase) is free for academic research at http://caf.zbiolab.cn and we anticipate CAFrgDB can be a useful resource for further study of CAFs.