Local gene editing of fibroblasts in tumors reveals a new cancer-associated fibroblast state

Fibroblasts play critical roles in regulating cellular relationships during tissue homeostasis, immunity, and tumor biology at multiple sites. However, tools to perturb fibroblasts at just one site in vivo are limited, restricting our understanding of how these cellular relationships act locally. We optimized local gene editing of fibroblasts in mouse tumor models to investigate how fibroblast perturbations affect the tumor microenvironment (TME). By knocking out receptors Osmr, Tgfbr2, or Il1r1 on cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), we uncover that TGFBR2 signaling loss induces the emergence of a new Col18a1^hi CAF cell state that is associated with worse survival in pancreatic cancer patients. Combinatorial gene KOs in CAFs reveals a circuit where these Col18a1^hi CAFs reshape the TME by recruiting Siglec-F^hi neutrophils via Cxcl5 expression, and where this Col18a1^hi CAF cell state is dependent on TNFR1 and canonical Wnt signaling. Together, a fast, affordable, and modular engineering method is demonstrated, allowing discovery of modified fibroblast identities and local intercellular relationships in the TME.