Fig. 4: Two key interactions with the brain microenvironment during colonization.
(I) Cancer colonization is influenced by tumor-promoting signals and supporting mechanisms in the brain. Angiogenesis is essential to supply oxygen and nutrients necessary for proliferation of metastatic lung cancer cells. To sustain robust proliferation, lung cancer cells augment stiffness of the surrounding matrix in the MN. (II) Interactions between metastatic lung cancer cells and brain TME are essential for successful colonization. This process involves not only resident brain cells (such as astrocytes and microglial cells) but also immune cells (such as macrophages, effector T cells and Tregs) that originate in bone and migrate to the brain through the bloodstream. MHC major histocompatibility complex class, TCR T cell receptor.
