Cell fusion reprograms tumor cells and promotes RUNX1-mediated invasion and dissemination in colorectal cancer
hybrid cells were identified in both primary tumor and peripheral blood, where circulating hybrid cells (CHCs) exhibited enriched migratory and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotypes. Taken together, these findings reveal a mechanistic role for RUNX1 in driving invasive behavior of tumor-immune hybrids and highlight disseminated CHCs as an under-recognized contributor to metastatic spread and a promising noninvasive biomarker for tumor progression.
Authors
- Young Hwan Chang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8764-1959)
- Jared M. Fischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0062-0870)
- Cody C. Rounds (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2586-2731)
- Sandhya Govindarajan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1300-8223)
- Guanming Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8196-1177)
- Ashley N. Anderson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7522-846X)
- Nicole R. Giske (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5190-5174)
- Andrew C. Adey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7648-8717)
- Brian Brinkerhoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6266-7965)
- Luiz E. Bertassoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2732-8164)
- Konstantin Queitsch
- Summer L. Gibbs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8077-1582)
- Jocelyn A. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6260-0472)
- Amara Pang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2347-6656)
- Charles D. Lopez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0921-4932)
- A. Zucker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3809-9387)
- Cristiane Miranda França (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4597-9569)
- PETER H. TRAN
- Melissa H. Wong
- Divya Ravi
- Abigail G. Moore
- Ge Huang
- V. Liana Tsikitis
- John R. Swain
- Isis Diaz Monarrez
- Kai Tao
- Brady Jin Smith
- William S. Greer
Institutions
- Portland State University (US)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Okazaki Institute for Integrative Bioscience (JP)
- Decision Research (US)
- Oregon Medical Research Center (US)
- Oregon Health and Science University Hospital (US)
- University of Portland (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.12.717781
- Primary Topic
- Cancer Cells and Metastasis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00