ACTA1 and cancer: Although we did not examine in detail the differentiation capacity of BMMSC, e.g. into CAFs when interacting with tongue cancer cells, our preliminary results from qt-RT-PCR analysis and immunostainings showed a clear increase in the gene expression of CAF-marker αSMA after the exposure of BMMSC to cancer cell culture media and more αSMA-positive BMMSCs in co-cultures with cancer cells than in BMMSC mono-culture (not shown).