ArticleScientific reports2021
Tunneling nanotubes, TNT, communicate glioblastoma with surrounding non-tumor astrocytes to adapt them to hypoxic and metabolic tumor conditions.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mitochondrial transfer in cancer: a global bibliometric analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- Mitochondrial Transfer in the Neurovascular Unit, Not Only for Energy Rescue: A Systematic Review.Aging and disease · 2024Pooled it
- Tunneling nanotubes regulate mitochondrial homeostasis between glioblastoma and astrocytes, and between tumor cells in vivo.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Regulation and function of specialized membrane protrusions in intercellular communication.Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology · 2026Review
- Emerging Roles of Cytoneme-Mediated Signaling in Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Mitochondria and exosome intercellular co-transfer via annular gap junction vesicles in the human glioblastoma stem cell niche.Human cell · 2026Article
- From Ferroptotic Stress to Stemness: TNT-Mediated EMT Plasticity in Cancer Progression.Stem cell reviews and reports · 2026Review
- α-Synuclein triggers intercellular nanotubes formation to prevent apoptosis in astroglia by promoting stemness.Cell & bioscience · 2026Article
- Mitochondrial transplantation in lung diseases: From mechanisms to application prospects.Genes & diseases · 2026Review
- Tunneling nanotubes: a new dimension of intercellular communication and recent progress.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- From energy provision to protein synthesis: Tunnelling nanotubes as mediators of intercellular metabolic cooperation in cancer.FEBS open bio · 2026Review
- Mitochondria transfer in glioblastoma.Neuro-oncology · 2026Review
- Astrocyte-driven immunosuppression in the brain tumor microenvironment.Nature immunology · 2026Review
- Review
- Mitochondria transfer: intercellular communication and tumor microenvironment dynamics.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Breaking cellular boundaries: molecular mechanisms of tunneling nanotube formation and fusion.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Review
- Membrane-associated Rhes-Slc4a7 complex orchestrates tunneling nanotube formation and mutant Huntingtin spread.Science advances · 2026Article
- Mobile Powerhouses: Mitochondria Transfer via Tunnelling Nanotubes in Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Diseases.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial DNA mutations and intercellular mitochondrial transfer in cancer: mechanisms, biological effects, and clinical potential.Biomarker research · 2026Review
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Cell-to-cell communication is essential for the development and proper function of multicellular systems. We and others demonstrated that tunneling nanotubes (TNT) proliferate in several pathological conditions such as HIV, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the nature, function, and contribution of TNT to cancer pathogenesis are poorly understood. Our analyses demonstrate that TNT structures are induced between glioblastoma (GBM) cells and surrounding non-tumor astrocytes to transfer tumor-derived mitochondria. The mitochondrial transfer mediated by TNT resulted in the adaptation of non-tumor astrocytes to tumor-like metabolism and hypoxia conditions. In conclusion, TNT are an efficient cell-to-cell communication system used by cancer cells to adapt the microenvironment to the invasive nature of the tumor.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.