ArticleEMBO reports2021
Nanotube-like processes facilitate material transfer between photoreceptors.
Article in EMBO reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 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.
The trial behind it
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
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 88 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stem cell therapy for inherited retinal diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Stem cell research & therapy · 2023Pooled it
- Photoreceptor replacement: a disease-agnostic approach for the treatment of advanced retinal degeneration.Eye (London, England) · 2026Review
- Tunneling nanotubes regulate mitochondrial homeostasis between glioblastoma and astrocytes, and between tumor cells in vivo.Nature communications · 2026Article
- From energy provision to protein synthesis: Tunnelling nanotubes as mediators of intercellular metabolic cooperation in cancer.FEBS open bio · 2026Review
- Mitochondrial transfer and mesenchymal stem cells in ophthalmology: current evidence and therapeutic implications.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2026Review
- Lineage tracing reveals photoreceptor precursor cell subpopulations that contribute to murine retinogenesis.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- Human metapneumovirus: understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathology of infection.Journal of virology · 2025Review
- The neuroimmune interface in retinal regeneration.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2025Review
- Glioblastoma Cortical Organoids Recapitulate Cell-State Heterogeneity and Intercellular Transfer.Cancer discovery · 2025Article
- Review
- Intercellular mRNA transfer alters the human pluripotent stem cell state.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Cellular component transfer between photoreceptor cells of the retina.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2025Review
- Inherited Retinal Degenerations and Non-Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Progress and Unmet Needs.Translational vision science & technology · 2024Review
- Proteomic landscape of tunneling nanotubes reveals CD9 and CD81 tetraspanins as key regulators.eLife · 2024Article
- Human neural stem cells derived from fetal human brain communicate with each other and rescue ischemic neuronal cells through tunneling nanotubes.Cell death & disease · 2024Article
- Contribution of intraflagellar transport to compartmentalization and maintenance of the photoreceptor cell.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Inter-cellular mRNA Transfer Alters Human Pluripotent Stem Cell State.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Recent Progress in Photoreceptor Cell-Based Therapy for Degenerative Retinal Disease.Stem cells translational medicine · 2024Review
- Transplanted human photoreceptors transfer cytoplasmic material but not to the recipient mouse retina.Stem cell research & therapy · 2024Article
- ROCK inhibitor enhances mitochondrial transfer via tunneling nanotubes in retinal pigment epithelium.Theranostics · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Neuronal communication is typically mediated via synapses and gap junctions. New forms of intercellular communication, including nanotubes (NTs) and extracellular vesicles (EVs), have been described for non-neuronal cells, but their role in neuronal communication is not known. Recently, transfer of cytoplasmic material between donor and host neurons ("material transfer") was shown to occur after photoreceptor transplantation. The cellular mechanism(s) underlying this surprising finding are unknown. Here, using transplantation, primary neuronal cultures and the generation of chimeric retinae, we show for the first time that mammalian photoreceptor neurons can form open-end NT-like processes. These processes permit the transfer of cytoplasmic and membrane-bound molecules in culture and after transplantation and can mediate gain-of-function in the acceptor cells. Rarely, organelles were also observed to transfer. Strikingly, use of chimeric retinae revealed that material transfer can occur between photoreceptors in the intact adult retina. Conversely, while photoreceptors are capable of releasing EVs, at least in culture, these are taken up by glia and not by retinal neurons. Our findings provide the first evidence of functional NT-like processes forming between sensory neurons in culture and in vivo.
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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.