ArticleMolecular oncology2020
Pericyte-secreted IGF2 promotes breast cancer brain metastasis formation.
Article in Molecular oncology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Molecular and Clinicopathological Biomarkers Predicting Brain Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- The emerging roles of cerebral pericytes in brain metastasis.Neuro-oncology · 2026Review
- The Origin of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAFs) in Brain Metastases: Seven Hypotheses and Current Evidence.Cancers · 2026Review
- Single-cell transcriptomics profiling elucidates RBP-driven metastatic signaling pathways in ERiScience · 2026Article
- Human brain pericytes protect the blood-brain barrier from triple-negative breast cancer cells while promoting tumor aggressiveness.Journal of cell communication and signaling · 2026Article
- Article
- IL-6R blockade with tocilizumab disrupts pericyte- and tumor cell-driven IL-6/STAT3 signaling, enhancing docetaxel efficacy in ER+ breast cancer.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Bidirectional roles of meningeal lymphatic vessels in brain metastases: friend and foe.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Review
- Profibrotic macrophage-derived CXCL4 promotes pericyte-to-myofibroblast transition after spinal cord injury.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Article
- Overcoming IGF1R-Mediated Resistance to Oncolytic HSV1 and Radiotherapy via Triple Combination Therapy.Research square · 2025Article
- Stromagenesis and cancer-associated fibroblast heterogeneity in primary tumors and metastasis: focus in non-small cell lung cancer.FEBS open bio · 2025Review
- Eppur si muove: the dynamic brain pericyte.Fluids and barriers of the CNS · 2025Review
- Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals different cellular states in malignant cells and the tumor microenvironment in primary and metastatic ER-positive breast cancer.NPJ breast cancer · 2025Article
- Decoding metastatic microenvironments through single-cell omics reveals new insights into niche dynamics and tumor evolution.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Deciphering the Blood-Brain Barrier Paradox in Brain Metastasis Development and Therapy.Cancers · 2025Review
- Benign non-immune cells in tumor microenvironment.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Review
- Targeting IGF1/IGF1r signaling relieve pain and autophagic dysfunction in NTG-induced chronic migraine model of mice.The journal of headache and pain · 2024Article
- Article
- Inflammasome activation in peritumoral astrocytes is a key player in breast cancer brain metastasis development.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Brain metastases are life-threatening complications of triple-negative breast cancer, melanoma, and a few other tumor types. Poor outcome of cerebral secondary tumors largely depends on the microenvironment formed by cells of the neurovascular unit, among which pericytes are the least characterized. By using in vivo and in vitro techniques and human samples, here we show that pericytes play crucial role in the development of metastatic brain tumors by directly influencing key steps of the development of the disease. Brain pericytes had a prompt chemoattractant effect on breast cancer cells and established direct contacts with them. By secreting high amounts of extracellular matrix proteins, pericytes enhanced adhesion of both melanoma and triple-negative cancer cells, which might be particularly important in the exclusive perivascular growth of these tumor cells. In addition, pericytes secreted insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2), which had a very significant pro-proliferative effect on mammary carcinoma, but not on melanoma cells. By inhibiting IGF2 signaling using silencing or picropodophyllin (PPP), we could block the proliferation-increasing effect of pericytes on breast cancer cells. Administration of PPP (a blood-brain barrier-permeable substance) significantly decreased the size of brain tumors in mice inoculated with triple-negative breast cancer cells. Taken together, our results indicate that brain pericytes have significant pro-metastatic features, especially in breast cancer. Our study underlines the importance of targeting pericytes and the IGF axis as potential strategies in brain metastatic diseases.
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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.