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. 2020 Aug 18;10:1493. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2020.01493

Figure 1.

Figure 1

The perineural niche and tumor microenvironment in PNI. (A) Diagram showing the architecture and main cellular components of a normal axon. The perineurium that composed of several layers of perineurial cells protects the axon. The perineurium that surrounds individual Schwann cell, micro-vessel, fibroblast. (B) Diagram showing the brief structure of tumor derived-exosomes(TDE). TDE contains mRNA, miRNA, protein and other substances, which can be transferred to their target cells, directly or indirectly changing the biological function of recipient cells. (C) Diagram showing the architecture and main cellular components of an axon while tumor invades the nerve. After the effect of multiple factors, such as chemokines, GDNF family, NGF family, MMPs and PNI-related cells, the tight connections between the perineurial cells the and the tumor invades the nerve. (D) Diagram show the corresponding H&E-stained image of normal nerve. (E) Diagram show the corresponding H&E-stained image of tumor infiltrating nerve by the adenoid cystic carcinoma.