ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2017
Intercellular mRNA trafficking via membrane nanotube-like extensions in mammalian cells.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
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- 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
- Post-transcriptional regulatory networks: The dynamic interplay of RNA-binding proteins.The FEBS journal · 2026Review
- Intercellular Mitochondrial Transfer: Implications in Cardiovascular Health.Circulation research · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial Transfer to Endothelial Cells: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Therapeutic Potential.Circulation research · 2026Review
- Breaking cellular boundaries: molecular mechanisms of tunneling nanotube formation and fusion.Biochemical Society transactions · 2026Review
- Multi-omic profiling of early pregnancy small and large plasma extracellular vesicles reveals placental, metabolic, and structural adaptation signatures.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mobile Powerhouses: Mitochondria Transfer via Tunnelling Nanotubes in Brain Health and Neurodegenerative Diseases.The European journal of neuroscience · 2026Review
- The interplay between the extracellular matrix and extracellular vesicle-associated microRNAs.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Nano- and Microtubes: Tiny Fusion Events but Not Overall Plasma Membrane Merger for Exchanging Intracellular Components.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- Conservation of mRNA operon formation in control of the heat shock response in mammalian cells.Science advances · 2025Article
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- Interplay between tunneling nanotubes and Wnt Signaling: Insights into cytoskeletal regulation and therapeutic potential.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2025Review
- Ontogenetic stage and type of donor cells shape extracellular vesicles' therapeutic potential for osteoarthritis.Stem cell research & therapy · 2025Article
- Mitochondrial transfer in endothelial cells and vascular health.Trends in cell biology · 2025Review
- Intercellular mRNA transfer alters the human pluripotent stem cell state.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- A novel method for characterizing cell-cell interactions at single-cell resolution reveals unique signatures in blood T cell-monocyte complexes during infection.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
RNAs have been shown to undergo transfer between mammalian cells, although the mechanism behind this phenomenon and its overall importance to cell physiology is not well understood. Numerous publications have suggested that RNAs (microRNAs and incomplete mRNAs) undergo transfer via extracellular vesicles (e.g., exosomes). However, in contrast to a diffusion-based transfer mechanism, we find that full-length mRNAs undergo direct cell-cell transfer via cytoplasmic extensions characteristic of membrane nanotubes (mNTs), which connect donor and acceptor cells. By employing a simple coculture experimental model and using single-molecule imaging, we provide quantitative data showing that mRNAs are transferred between cells in contact. Examples of mRNAs that undergo transfer include those encoding GFP, mouse β-actin, and human Cyclin D1, BRCA1, MT2A, and HER2. We show that intercellular mRNA transfer occurs in all coculture models tested (e.g., between primary cells, immortalized cells, and in cocultures of immortalized human and murine cells). Rapid mRNA transfer is dependent upon actin but is independent of de novo protein synthesis and is modulated by stress conditions and gene-expression levels. Hence, this work supports the hypothesis that full-length mRNAs undergo transfer between cells through a refined structural connection. Importantly, unlike the transfer of miRNA or RNA fragments, this process of communication transfers genetic information that could potentially alter the acceptor cell proteome. This phenomenon may prove important for the proper development and functioning of tissues as well as for host-parasite or symbiotic interactions.
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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.