Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40009679›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

Local soft niches in mechanically heterogeneous primary tumors promote brain metastasis via mechanotransduction-mediated HDAC3 activity.

Kai Tang, Yufan Zheng, Guanshuo Hu, Ying Xin, Keming Li, Cunyu Zhang, Xi Chen, Bai Zhang, Xueyi Li, Bing Hu and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Piezo channels in tumors.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026
    Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Intercellular contractile force attenuates chemosensitivity through Notch-MVP-mediated nuclear drug export.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Kai TangThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1836-1739
Yufan ZhengThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8633-7701
Guanshuo HuThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Ying XinThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Keming LiThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Cunyu ZhangThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Xi ChenThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Bai ZhangThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Xueyi LiThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Bing HuThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.ORCID 0000-0002-5891-891X
Qiong JiaDepartment of Oncology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China, 210006.ORCID 0009-0009-8110-5421
Yong-Ping ZhengResearch Institute of Smart Ageing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.ORCID 0000-0002-3407-9226
Mo YangDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
Youhua TanThe Hong Kong Polytechnic University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen 518057, China.ORCID 0000-0003-1411-1265

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tumor cells with organ-specific metastasis traits arise in primary lesions with substantial variations of local niche mechanics owing to intratumoral heterogeneity. However, the roles of mechanically heterogeneous primary tumor microenvironment in metastatic organotropism remain an enigma. This study reports that persistent priming in soft but not stiff niches that mimic primary tumor mechanical heterogeneity induces transcriptional reprogramming reminiscent of neuron and promotes the acquisition of brain metastatic potential. Soft-primed cells generate brain metastases in vivo through enhanced transendothelial migration across blood-brain barrier and brain colonization, which is further supported by the findings that tumor cells residing in local soft niches of primary xenografts exhibit brain metastatic tropism. Mechanistically, soft niches suppress cytoskeleton-nucleus-mediated mechanotransduction, which promotes histone deacetylase 3 activity. Inhibiting histone deacetylase 3 abolishes niche softness-induced brain metastatic ability. Collectively, this study uncovers a previously unappreciated role of local niche softness within primary tumors in brain metastasis, highlighting the significance of primary tumor mechanical heterogeneity in metastatic organotropism.

Indexed as

Brain NeoplasmsHistone DeacetylasesMechanotransduction, CellularTumor MicroenvironmentAnimalsCell Line, TumorFemaleHistone Deacetylase 3HumansMiceNeoplasm MetastasisHistone Deacetylase 3Histone Deacetylases

Identifiers

PMID40009679
PMCPMC11864190

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Registered trials

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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.