ArticleNature communications2017
Cancer-associated fibroblasts induce metalloprotease-independent cancer cell invasion of the basement membrane.
Article in Nature communications, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 208 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
208 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 345 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of tumor microenvironment on pathogenesis of the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review.Molecular cancer · 2019Pooled it
- Decoding neuro-tumor interactions in pancreatic cancer: mechanisms, immunosuppressive networks and therapeutic opportunities.Molecular biomedicine · 2026Review
- Mechanical memory as a metastatic compass: a comparative framework for understanding organotropism through biophysical priming.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Revealing biomechanical vulnerabilities in oral cancer cells using 3D coculture platform and low-frequency ultrasound.Materials today. Bio · 2026Article
- Fibronectin matrix remodelling modulates the active nematic dynamics of cancer-associated fibroblasts.Nature materials · 2026Article
- PRSS1 promotes gastric cancer invasion and metastasis by induction of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition and activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway.Translational cancer research · 2026Article
- Fibroblasts: a diverse population of cells balancing homeostasis, wound healing, regeneration, inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer across organs.JCI insight · 2026Review
- Signaling downstream of tumor-stroma interaction regulates mucinous colorectal adenocarcinoma apicobasal polarity.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Persistent NET states link lesion-related microbial signals to the cold tumor-related local restrictive environment: a context-dependent working model.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Dynamic ecosystems of tumor drug resistance mechanisms: from molecular heterogeneity to systemic interventions.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Review
- Defining the tumor microenvironment of non-small cell lung cancer.Immunology and cell biology · 2026Review
- Biochemical signals from the extracellular matrix in inflammation and tumour immunology.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- Identification of Basement Membrane-Related Biomarkers in the Progression of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Substantial unannotated noncoding transcripts in tumors may transcriptionally regulate cancer-related genes.BMC biology · 2026Article
- Cancer cells metastasize in several types of cancer via two distinct routes, probably based on mechanical signals.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Angelicin Inhibits NSCLC Tumor Growth via the Inhibition of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2026Article
- Remodeling the Stroma: The Role of ncRNAs in Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts and Therapeutic Implications for Digestive Tumors.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Principal mechanisms of extracellular matrix-mediated cell-cell communication in physiological and tumor microenvironments.The FEBS journal · 2026Review
- Glycochenodeoxycholic acid promotes hepatocarcinogenesis by inducing hepatic progenitor cell differentiation into cancer-associated fibroblasts via sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 signalling.Biomarker research · 2025Article
- Article
148 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
15 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
At the stage of carcinoma in situ, the basement membrane (BM) segregates tumor cells from the stroma. This barrier must be breached to allow dissemination of the tumor cells to adjacent tissues. Cancer cells can perforate the BM using proteolysis; however, whether stromal cells play a role in this process remains unknown. Here we show that an abundant stromal cell population, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), promote cancer cell invasion through the BM. CAFs facilitate the breaching of the BM in a matrix metalloproteinase-independent manner. Instead, CAFs pull, stretch, and soften the BM leading to the formation of gaps through which cancer cells can migrate. By exerting contractile forces, CAFs alter the organization and the physical properties of the BM, making it permissive for cancer cell invasion. Blocking the ability of stromal cells to exert mechanical forces on the BM could therefore represent a new therapeutic strategy against aggressive tumors.Stromal cells play various roles in tumor establishment and metastasis. Here the authors, using an ex-vivo model, show that cancer-associated fibroblasts facilitate colon cancer cells invasion in a matrix metalloproteinase-independent manner, likely by pulling and stretching the basement membrane to form gaps.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.