Fig. 5
Cell–cell interactions in HPSCC and pro-angiogenic ability of mCAFs on HUVECs. a Heatmap representing the number of predicted ligand–receptor pairs between different cell types in tumor and normal samples. b Heatmap representing the number of predicted ligand and receptor pairs between different subsets of ECs and fibroblasts in tumor samples. c Dot plot of the predicted ligand–receptor interactions between different subsets of ECs and fibroblasts in tumor samples. d Representative images of the tube formation capability of HUVECs cultured for 4 h in normal and conditioned media of NFs and CAFs. Scale bar = 200 μm. Data of NFCM and CAFCM groups versus medium group are shown as mean ± SEM, with n = 3 paracancerous tissues and n = 4 tumor tissue columns. Differences were determined using unpaired t-tests (*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01)