Figure 1.

Crosstalk between cancer cells and reactive astrocytes in brain metastasis. Cancer cells (in green) and astrocytes (in gray) are depicted with several of the molecular mechanisms described in their reciprocal crosstalk. The initial ability of reactive astrocytes to kill cancer cells through the production of Plasminogen activators is later modified into a supportive niche that involves secreted molecules, gap junctions, protocadherins, Notch receptor and ligands, among other components. Such a complex interactome influences each other cell type at the gene expression level.