ArticlePloS one2011
Intercellular communication by exchange of cytoplasmic material via tunneling nano-tube like structures in primary human renal epithelial cells.
Article in PloS one, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- From energy provision to protein synthesis: Tunnelling nanotubes as mediators of intercellular metabolic cooperation in cancer.FEBS open bio · 2026Review
- Real-time snapping dynamics and nanoscale thickness profiling of salmon keratocyte tunneling nanotubes using partially coherent quantitative phase microscopy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Interplay between tunneling nanotubes and Wnt Signaling: Insights into cytoskeletal regulation and therapeutic potential.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2025Review
- Article
- Potential Mechanisms of Tunneling Nanotube Formation and Their Role in Pathology Spread in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Proteinopathies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Mitochondrial transfer in tunneling nanotubes-a new target for cancer therapy.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2024Review
- The direct transfer approach for transcellular drug delivery.Drug delivery · 2023Review
- Mitochondrial transfer in hematological malignancies.Biomarker research · 2023Review
- Mitochondria on the move: Horizontal mitochondrial transfer in disease and health.The Journal of cell biology · 2023Article
- Mitochondrial Transplantation in Mitochondrial Medicine: Current Challenges and Future Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Role of Tunneling Nanotubes in the Nervous System.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Tunneling Nanotubes: A New Target for Nanomedicine?International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Advantages and Limitations of Gene Therapy and Gene Editing for Friedreich's Ataxia.Frontiers in genome editing · 2022Review
- In vitro and in vivo detection of tunneling nanotubes in normal and pathological osteoclastogenesis involving osteoclast fusion.Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology · 2021Article
- Review
- Nanotube-like processes facilitate material transfer between photoreceptors.EMBO reports · 2021Article
- Opportunities and Challenges in Tunneling Nanotubes Research: How Far from Clinical Application?International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Intercellular Transfer of Mitochondria between Senescent Cells through Cytoskeleton-Supported Intercellular Bridges Requires mTOR and CDC42 Signalling.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2021Article
- Musculoskeletal Progenitor/Stromal Cell-Derived Mitochondria Modulate Cell Differentiation and Therapeutical Function.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Review
- Mitochondrial donation in translational medicine; from imagination to reality.Journal of translational medicine · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Transfer of cellular material via tunneling nanotubes (TNT) was recently discovered as a novel mechanism for intercellular communication. The role of intercellular exchange in communication of renal epithelium is not known. Here we report extensive spontaneous intercellular exchange of cargo vesicles and organelles between primary human proximal tubular epithelial cells (RPTEC). Cells were labeled with two different quantum dot nanocrystals (Qtracker 605 or 525) and intercellular exchange was quantified by high-throughput fluorescence imaging and FACS analysis. In co-culture, a substantial fraction of cells (67.5%) contained both dyes indicating high levels of spontaneous intercellular exchange in RPTEC. The double positive cells could be divided into three categories based on the preponderance of 605 Qtracker (46.30%), 525 Qtracker (48.3%) and approximately equal content of both Qtrackers (4.57%). The transfer of mitochondria between RPTECs was also detected using an organelle specific dye. Inhibition of TNT genesis by actin polymerization inhibitor (Latrunculin B) markedly reduced intercellular exchange (>60%) suggesting that intercellular exchange in RPTEC was in part mediated via TNT-like structures. In contrast, induction of cellular stress by Zeocin treatment increased tube-genesis in RPTEC. Our data indicates an unexpected dynamic of intercellular communication between RPTEC by exchange of cytosolic material, which may play an important role in renal physiology.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.