Ghrelin-induced neuronal NPY promotes brain metastasis in lung cancer patients with low BMI

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 5608 - 18
• Main Authors: Tyagi, Abhishek, Wu, Shih-Ying, Kim, Jee-Won, Deshpande, Ravindra Pramod, Wu, Kerui, Smith, Eleanor C., Banna, Giuseppe L., Watabe, Kounosuke
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.07.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/106; 13/31; 14/5; 14/63; 38/109; 38/88; 42/41; 631/67/1612/1350; 631/67/1857; 631/67/2327; 631/67/322; 64/60; 82/51; Aged; Animals; Biomarkers; Body Mass Index; Body size; Brain; Brain cancer; Brain Neoplasms - metabolism; Brain Neoplasms - secondary; Brain tumors; Calories; Cell growth; Cell Line, Tumor; Female; Ghrelin; Ghrelin - blood; Ghrelin - metabolism; Growth hormones; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - metabolism; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Male; Medical prognosis; Melanoma; Metastases; Metastasis; Mice; Middle Aged; Molecular modelling; Mortality; multidisciplinary; Neurons - metabolism; Neuropeptide Y; Neuropeptide Y - genetics; Neuropeptide Y - metabolism; Obesity; Obesity - complications; Obesity - metabolism; Paradoxes; Physiology; Receptors, Ghrelin - metabolism; Receptors, Neuropeptide Y - metabolism; Risk factors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Secretion; Signal Transduction; Tumor cells; Tumors

Obesity is a known risk factor for many cancers, yet recent studies reveal a paradoxical association between low body mass index (BMI) and increased brain metastasis in lung cancer—referred to as the “obesity paradox,” with unclear molecular mechanism(s). Here, we show a significantly higher inciden...