Evidence mapPaperPMID 41992007Full record

ArticleNature neuroscience2026

Spatial and single-cell characterization of human glioblastoma tumor microenvironment reveals malignant cellular communities.

Jun Lin, Chunpeng Chen, Shouzhen Li, Liu Chen, Minghao Fang, Shuqi Fu, Kaixing Chen, Hao Xu, Fenghuan Zhang, Rirui Wang and 11 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Jun Lin *Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-6540
Chunpeng Chen *Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Shouzhen LiDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. lshouzhe@ustc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3780-5190
Liu ChenDivision of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Minghao FangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Shuqi FuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Kaixing ChenDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Hao XuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Fenghuan ZhangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-9581-3383
Rirui WangDivision of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Chen JiangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Meifang TangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Zitian LiuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Shuyan WangDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Ke LiuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Chaoshi NiuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Bin LiTsinghua Institute of Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0485-3724
Xu LiuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Chuandong ChengDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. doctorcd@ustc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5982-195X
Ai-Hui TangAnhui Province Key Laboratory of Biomedical Imaging and Intelligent Processing, Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, Hefei, China. tangah@ustc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3715-6714
Kun QuDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, State Key Laboratory of Eye Health, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China. qukun@ustc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5555-8437

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32471445National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 62376256National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) T2125012
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Understanding the complex cellular and spatial organization of glioblastoma (GBM) and its microenvironment is crucial for improving diagnosis and treatment. Here we integrated 121 spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing and patch sequencing profiles from 100 patients to characterize primary GBM tissue. We identified four malignant cellular communities that exhibited consistent patterns of cell-type compositions, gene expression and intercellular interactions across patients. We identified two subpopulations of mesenchymal-like (MES-like) tumor cells: MES-Hyp, colocalized with monocyte-derived brain macrophages in hypoxic regions; and MES-Ast, associated with endothelial cells, pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells. We also predicted and experimentally verified cell subtypes and ligand-receptor pairs involved in intercellular communications in each cellular community. Furthermore, patch sequencing analysis revealed that synaptic connections with glioma cells were predominantly formed between neurons and oligodendrocyte-progenitor-like tumor cells. Overall, our study provides insights into the spatial organization and intercellular communication in GBM, offering potential therapeutic targets.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsGlioblastomaTumor MicroenvironmentCell CommunicationHumansSingle-Cell AnalysisSingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisSpatial Transcriptomics

Identifiers

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.