UW Madison NF Research Team Publishes New Findings

Author: Dr. Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam

Published On: 10/29/2023

Recently, we published a monumental paper related to our work in Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1): "Single-cell RNA sequencing of neurofibromas reveals a tumor microenvironment favorable for neural regeneration and immune suppression in a neurofibromatosis type 1 porcine model.”

Read the full article here. 

The key takeaways from our work:
(1) Neurofibromas (plexiform neurofibromas) in our pig model are compositionally very similar to those in humans.
(2) M2 macrophages and dendritic cells in the neurofibroma promote an immunosuppressive microenvironment.
(3) Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) in the neurofibromas are pro-inflammatory and express lower levels of type-I collagens.
(4) Neurofibroma-associated fibroblast clusters express unique collagens and glycoproteins, favoring extracellular matrix reconstruction and nerve regeneration.
(5) The neurofibromas contain distinct groups of fibroblasts with unique roles in the microenvironment.
(6) Schwann cells in the neurofibromas express precursor markers and reprogram the tumor microenvironment for neural regeneration.

This was years of hard work by our team that started in 2014. The current work offers several first-time insights into the microenvironment of mature NF1 tumors, revealing that certain existing drugs (including one used to treat another unrelated disorder) may be re-purposed to treat these tumors.

A special thanks to three key dear collaborators on this work, Dalton McLean, C. Dustin Rubinstein, and Charles Konsitzke! And a special thanks to our team members, including Jennifer Meudt, Folagbayi Arowolo, Nathan Chesmore, Kathy Krentz, Brent Lehman, and many others who are not on LinkedIn. Also, an equally important thanks to those who supported our work: Neurofibromatosis Network, Ryan Geier, Kim Bischoff, Jeff Leibow, and many others, including the families affected by NF1 that inspired us.