ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cytoneme

Cytonemes are like long spaghetti noodles that come out of a cell and help it talk to other cells that are far away. Imagine you are at a big party and want to tell your friend on the other side of the room about the awesome cake you just had. You can't just shout it out because it's too loud and your friend won't hear you. So instead, you take a long piece of spaghetti and use it to point at the cake. Your friend sees the spaghetti and knows what you are talking about.

That's kind of how cytonemes work in our bodies. Cells use them to send signals to other cells that are far away. When one cell needs to talk to another cell, it sends out a cytoneme to make contact. The cytoneme then delivers the message to the other cell, which can respond appropriately.

Cytonemes are important in many processes in our bodies, such as during the development of the nervous system and the immune system. They are also used by cancer cells to spread and invade other tissues.

So, in summary, cytonemes are like long spaghetti noodles that cells use to communicate with other cells that are far away. They are important in many processes in our bodies and can be used by cancer cells to invade other tissues.