ArticleCommunications biology2024
Brain endothelial cells promote breast cancer cell extravasation to the brain via EGFR-DOCK4-RAC1 signalling.
Article in Communications biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Molecular and Clinicopathological Biomarkers Predicting Brain Metastasis in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Pooled it
- Elevated DOCK4 expression correlates with favorable prognosis and immune infiltration in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Progressive Hypoxia Exacerbates Breast Cancer Metastasis by Paracrine Modulation of the Blood-brain Barrier Endothelium.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2026Article
- Article
- CSDE1 Drives Glycolysis and the Progression of Prostate Cancer Through RAC1-Dependent RAS/MAPK Activation.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Article
- Proteomic atlas of human peritoneal tissue.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The evolving landscape of brain metastasis: volume II.Trends in cancer · 2026Review
- Endothelial dysfunction determines vascular mechanisms of metastatic progression in breast cancer.Discover oncology · 2026Review
- Endothelial activation during the diapedesis of cancer cells: between the kiss of death and therapeutic breakthrough.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2025Review
- Unveiling the intricate dynamics of the interplay between triple-negative breast cancer cells and the blood-brain barrier endothelium.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2025Article
- Cancer metastasis: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic interventions.Molecular biomedicine · 2025Review
- Review
- The Role of Blood-Brain Barrier in Brain Cancer: From Pathophysiology to Therapeutic Approaches.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterReview
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The role of endothelial cells in promoting cancer cell extravasation to the brain during the interaction of cancer cells with the vasculature is not well characterised. We show that brain endothelial cells activate EGFR signalling in triple-negative breast cancer cells with propensity to metastasise to the brain. This activation is dependent on soluble factors secreted by brain endothelial cells, and occurs via the RAC1 GEF DOCK4, which is required for breast cancer cell extravasation to the brain in vivo. Knockdown of DOCK4 inhibits breast cancer cell entrance to the brain without affecting cancer cell survival or growth. Defective extravasation is associated with loss of elongated morphology preceding intercalation into brain endothelium. We also show that brain endothelial cells promote paracrine stimulation of mesenchymal-like morphology of breast cancer cells via DOCK4, DOCK9, RAC1 and CDC42. This stimulation is accompanied by EGFR activation necessary for brain metastatic breast cancer cell elongation which can be reversed by the EGFR inhibitor Afatinib. Our findings suggest that brain endothelial cells promote metastasis through activation of cell signalling that renders breast cancer cells competent for extravasation. This represents a paradigm of brain endothelial cells influencing the signalling and metastatic competency of breast cancer cells.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.