Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion.
Overview
- Laboratory of Cancer Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague 2 Czech Republic
- Laboratory of Genomics and Bioinformatics Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czech Academy of Sciences Prague 4 Czech Republic
- Present address: Protein Chemistry, Department of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Lund University Malmö Sweden
- Present address: Department of Oncology, Second Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Motol and Homolka University Hospital Prague 5 Czech Republic
- Laboratory of Proteomics, Institute of Biochemistry and Experimental Oncology, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague 2 Czech Republic
- Institute of Anatomy, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague 2 Czech Republic
- Department of Neurosurgery and Neurooncology, First Faculty of Medicine Charles University and Military University Hospital Prague 6 Czech Republic
- Department of Neurosurgery Motol and Homolka University Hospital Prague 5 Czech Republic
Abstract
Brain metastases (BrM) are a frequent and life‐threatening complication of solid tumours, with lung cancer representing their most common source. While cancer‐associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are well‐established contributors to tumour progression in many extracranial malignancies, their presence and function within the brain tumour microenvironment, where fibroblasts have long been considered scarce or absent, remain poorly understood. Here, we isolated and characterised fibroblast‐like cells from 13 human BrMs of diverse origins. These BrM‐associated CAFs (BrM‐CAFs) expressed canonical CAF markers and showed reduced proliferation and increased senescence compared to normal fibroblasts. Their transcriptome was enriched for extracellular matrix (ECM)‐related genes, including multiple collagens, fibronectin, and matrix‐remodelling enzymes. In vitro, BrM‐CAFs produced a fibrillar ECM, and in BrM tissues, their abundance was associated with collagen I and fibronectin deposition. Transcriptomic, proteomic, and secretome analyses further revealed that BrM‐CAFs produce multiple cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors that promote cell motility. BrM‐CAF conditioned medium promoted both monocyte migration and the migration of cancer cells, including established cell lines and patient‐derived lung cancer BrM cells; monocyte migration was partially reduced by inhibition of CCL2/
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Data
Data links
- ebi.ac.uk/
biostudies/ , EMBL-EBI; found in “DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT”arrayexpress
Data availability statement
The transcriptomic datasets used in this article are available in the ArrayExpress database (https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Versions
The history of this record: each version stored by the harvester or made by a correction of its authors or of the maintainers of its code, and what changed in its facts. The texts of the paper (its abstract, its availability statements) are not part of it; versions that changed only those are not listed.
Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, pages, dates, 20 authors, 6 keywords, 6 funders, 69 references.
Cite
This paper
Výmolová, B., Pfeiferová, L., Smetana, T. K., Výmola, P., Ternerová, N., Zubaľ, M., Kolář, M., Šáchová, J., Gyönyörová, S., Balážiová, E., Houdová Megová, M., Červenka, J., Kupcová Skalníková, H., Španko, M., Smetana, K., Lacina, L., Netuka, D., Tomáš, R., Bušek, P., & Šedo, A. (2026). Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion. Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland), e70129. https://
BibTeX
@article{vymolova2026bra
author = {Výmolová, Barbora and Pfeiferová, Lucie and Smetana, Tadeáš Karel and Výmola, Petr and Ternerová, Nikola and Zubaľ, Michal and Kolář, Michal and Šáchová, Jana and Gyönyörová, Soňa and Balážiová, Eva and Houdová Megová, Magdalena and Červenka, Jakub and Kupcová Skalníková, Helena and Španko, Michal and Smetana, Karel and Lacina, Lukáš and Netuka, David and Tomáš, Robert and Bušek, Petr and Šedo, Aleksi},
title = {{Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion}},
journal = {Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
pages = {e70129},
publisher = {Wiley},
issn = {1015-6305},
doi = {10.1111/
url = {https://
pmid = {42551489},
pmcid = {PMC13437050}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Výmolová, Barbora
AU - Pfeiferová, Lucie
AU - Smetana, Tadeáš Karel
AU - Výmola, Petr
AU - Ternerová, Nikola
AU - Zubaľ, Michal
AU - Kolář, Michal
AU - Šáchová, Jana
AU - Gyönyörová, Soňa
AU - Balážiová, Eva
AU - Houdová Megová, Magdalena
AU - Červenka, Jakub
AU - Kupcová Skalníková, Helena
AU - Španko, Michal
AU - Smetana, Karel
AU - Lacina, Lukáš
AU - Netuka, David
AU - Tomáš, Robert
AU - Bušek, Petr
AU - Šedo, Aleksi
TI - Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion
T2 - Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland)
J2 - Brain Pathol
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
SP - e70129
SN - 1015-6305
PB - Wiley
DO - 10.1111/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
{
"id": "10.1111/
"type": "article-journal",
"title": "Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion",
"container-title": "Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland)",
"author": [
{
"family": "Výmolová",
"given": "Barbora"
},
{
"family": "Pfeiferová",
"given": "Lucie"
},
{
"family": "Smetana",
"given": "Tadeáš Karel"
},
{
"family": "Výmola",
"given": "Petr"
},
{
"family": "Ternerová",
"given": "Nikola"
},
{
"family": "Zubaľ",
"given": "Michal"
},
{
"family": "Kolář",
"given": "Michal"
},
{
"family": "Šáchová",
"given": "Jana"
},
{
"family": "Gyönyörová",
"given": "Soňa"
},
{
"family": "Balážiová",
"given": "Eva"
},
{
"family": "Houdová Megová",
"given": "Magdalena"
},
{
"family": "Červenka",
"given": "Jakub"
},
{
"family": "Kupcová Skalníková",
"given": "Helena"
},
{
"family": "Španko",
"given": "Michal"
},
{
"family": "Smetana",
"given": "Karel"
},
{
"family": "Lacina",
"given": "Lukáš"
},
{
"family": "Netuka",
"given": "David"
},
{
"family": "Tomáš",
"given": "Robert"
},
{
"family": "Bušek",
"given": "Petr"
},
{
"family": "Šedo",
"given": "Aleksi"
}
],
"container-title-short":
"page": "e70129",
"DOI": "10.1111/
"PMID": "42551489",
"PMCID": "PMC13437050",
"ISSN": "1015-6305",
"publisher": "Wiley",
"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
"issued": {
"date-parts": [
[
2026,
8,
4
]
]
}
}
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