Fig. 2

The influence of TME on CSCs. The figure shows the TME components and their influence on CSCs, including the influence of stromal cells, ECM, immunosuppressive cells, and TME secretome. CAF, cancer-associated fibroblast; Treg, regulatory T cell; MDSC, myeloid-derived suppressor cell; TAM, tumor-associated macrophage; ECM, extracellular matrix; IL-6, interleukin-6; IFN-γ, interferon-gamma; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor-alpha; TGF-β, transforming growth factor-beta; VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; CXCL12, C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12; bFGF, basic fibroblast growth factor; HA, hyaluronan; EMT, epithelial-mesenchymal transition; ALDH, aldehyde dehydrogenase; M-CSF, macrophage colony-stimulating factor; CXCR4, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4