Older adults respond well to immunotherapy despite age-related immune system differences
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 26-Apr-2025 16:08 ET (26-Apr-2025 20:08 GMT/UTC)
This new review article highlights the pivotal and paradoxical role of R-loops in maintaining genomic stability while simultaneously posing risks to it. These three-stranded nucleic acid structures, composed of an RNA:DNA hybrid and a displaced DNA strand, are now recognized not merely as byproducts of transcription but as essential regulatory elements in gene expression, DNA replication, and repair mechanisms.
A recent review published in Genes & Diseases sheds light on the complex and multifaceted role of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in cancer progression, with a particular focus on the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). Traditionally recognized for its critical functions in neural development, FMRP is now emerging as a key regulator in cancer biology, influencing tumor growth, metastasis, and therapy resistance. This growing body of knowledge presents a shift in understanding how RNA metabolism can drive oncogenic processes and potentially offer novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
A deeper understanding of osteosarcoma, the most common primary malignant bone tumor affecting children and adolescents, is reshaping strategies for overcoming treatment resistance.
Lipid metabolism has emerged as a central player in the progression and therapy resistance of breast cancer, particularly the aggressive subtype known as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This review article highlights how disruptions in lipid regulation can significantly influence the behavior of breast cancer cells, impacting their growth, metastasis, and response to treatment.
A new wave of scientific interest is spotlighting GOT2—glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase 2—as a compelling therapeutic target in the fight against pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal and treatment-resistant malignancies. This mitochondrial enzyme, deeply embedded in glutamine metabolism, plays a central role in sustaining cancer cell survival and growth. By regulating the malate-aspartate shuttle, GOT2 maintains cellular redox balance, generates essential metabolic intermediates, and influences energy production pathways that fuel tumor proliferation.
Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC), a rare yet highly aggressive malignancy, continues to represent a major clinical challenge. A recent review published in Genes & Diseases offers a comprehensive overview of the molecular mechanisms, diagnostic approaches, and therapeutic strategies driving current and future management of this lethal disease. ATC, accounting for a small percentage of thyroid cancers, progresses rapidly and resists conventional therapies, underscoring the urgency for innovative treatment paradigms.
Researchers have found that targeting an enzyme called PGM3 can help stop the growth of glioblastoma, the most dangerous type of brain tumor. Researchers with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James and Richard J. Solove Research Institute believe that targeting PGM3 enzyme can reduce tumor growth and eliminate glioblastoma cells.
Fifty years since its discovery, scientists have finally worked out how a molecular machine found in mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses’ of our cells, allows us to make the fuel we need from sugars, a process vital to all life on Earth. Scientists at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Mitochondrial Biology Unit, University of Cambridge, have worked out the structure of this machine and shown how it operates like the lock on a canal to transport pyruvate – a molecule generated in the body from the breakdown of sugars – into our mitochondria.