ReviewFrontiers in immunology2021
Role of Tunneling Nanotubes in Viral Infection, Neurodegenerative Disease, and Cancer.
Review in Frontiers in immunology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
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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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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.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Microglial tunneling nanotubes: an intercellular transfer facilitating mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation in experimental cerebral malaria.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2026Article
- Tunneling nanotubes: a new dimension of intercellular communication and recent progress.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Review
- Article
- Spatially structured models of viral dynamics: a scoping review.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2025Article
- The role of mitochondrial transfer in lung disease.Respiratory research · 2025Review
- Polar cell membrane nanotubes containing microtubules and acidic vesicles render Drosophila eggs fertile.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Self-driven electrical triggering system activates tunneling nanotube highways to enhance drug delivery in bladder cancer therapy.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Zika virus NS1 drives tunneling nanotube formation for mitochondrial transfer and stealth transmission in trophoblasts.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- Invisible Bridges: Unveiling the Role and Prospects of Tunneling Nanotubes in Cancer Therapy.Molecular pharmaceutics · 2024Review
- The diversity of clinicalJournal of medical microbiology · 2024Article
- Spatial information allows inference of the prevalence of direct cell-to-cell viral infection.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Horizontal mitochondrial transfer as a novel bioenergetic tool for mesenchymal stromal/stem cells: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Review
- A Tiny Viral Protein, SARS-CoV-2-ORF7b: Functional Molecular Mechanisms.Biomolecules · 2024Article
- Neurons cytoskeletal architecture remodeling during the replication cycle of mouse coronavirus MHV-JHM: a morphological in vitro study.BMC veterinary research · 2024Article
- Mechanisms of Intracellular Communication in Cancer and Pathogen Spreading.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- Tunneling Nanotubes in the Brain.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
- A role for tunneling nanotubes in virus spread.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Review
- Tunneling Nanotubes: The Cables for Viral Spread and Beyond.Results and problems in cell differentiation · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The network of tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) represents the filamentous (F)-actin rich tubular structure which is connected to the cytoplasm of the adjacent and or distant cells to mediate efficient cell-to-cell communication. They are long cytoplasmic bridges with an extraordinary ability to perform diverse array of function ranging from maintaining cellular physiology and cell survival to promoting immune surveillance. Ironically, TNTs are now widely documented to promote the spread of various pathogens including viruses either during early or late phase of their lifecycle. In addition, TNTs have also been associated with multiple pathologies in a complex multicellular environment. While the recent work from multiple laboratories has elucidated the role of TNTs in cellular communication and maintenance of homeostasis, this review focuses on their exploitation by the diverse group of viruses such as retroviruses, herpesviruses, influenza A, human metapneumovirus and SARS CoV-2 to promote viral entry, virus trafficking and cell-to-cell spread. The later process may aggravate disease severity and the associated complications due to widespread dissemination of the viruses to multiple organ system as observed in current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In addition, the TNT-mediated intracellular spread can be protective to the viruses from the circulating immune surveillance and possible neutralization activity present in the extracellular matrix. This review further highlights the relevance of TNTs in ocular and cardiac tissues including neurodegenerative diseases, chemotherapeutic resistance, and cancer pathogenesis. Taken together, we suggest that effective therapies should consider precise targeting of TNTs in several diseases including virus infections.
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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.