Cancer Biology

Comprehensive characterization of tumor microenvironment in colorectal cancer via molecular analysis

1. Xiangkun Wu
2. Hong Yan
3. Mingxing Qiu
4. Xiaoping Qu
5. Jing Wang
6. Shaowan Xu
7. Yiran Zheng
8. Minghui Ge
9. Linlin Yan
10. Li Liang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study represents a valuable body of work in which the authors assemble a molecular description of colorectal cancer and classification into subtypes. Overall, the evidence supporting the findings is solid and could be improved with more detail. Consensus over a diverse range of data from publicly available sources is convincing. When added to existing knowledge this work may contribute to future biomarker discoveries for colorectal cancer.

Reviewed by eLife

Inhibitors of Rho kinases (ROCK) induce multiple mitotic defects and synthetic lethality in BRCA2-deficient cells

1. Julieta Martino
2. Sebastián Omar Siri
3. Nicolás Luis Calzetta
4. Natalia Soledad Paviolo
5. Cintia Garro
6. Maria F Pansa
7. Sofía Carbajosa
8. Aaron C Brown
9. José Luis Bocco
10. Israel Gloger
11. Gerard Drewes
12. Kevin P Madauss
13. Gastón Soria
14. Vanesa Gottifredi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors have uncovered a new target that may be exploited to selectively kill BRCA2 mutant cancer cells. Strengths of the study include the novel pathway uncovered (ROCK kinases) and the strong data in support of the findings. Weaknesses include limited detail regarding the mechanism of BRCA2-specific cell death by ROCK kinase inhibitors, limited information on why some ROCK kinase inhibitors are not effective, as well as whether the cell killing in BRCA2 wild-type cells by ROCK kinase inhibitors is the same mechanism but just attenuated. The work will be of interest to cancer biologists and colleagues studying kinases.

Reviewed by eLife

Proteomic characteristics reveal the signatures and the risks of T1 colorectal cancer metastasis to lymph nodes

1. Aojia Zhuang
2. Aobo Zhuang
3. Yijiao Chen
4. Zhaoyu Qin
5. Dexiang Zhu
6. Li Ren
7. Ye Wei
8. Pengyang Zhou
9. Xuetong Yue
10. Fuchu He
11. Jianmin Xu
12. Chen Ding

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is an important contribution to colorectal cancer research to understand how we can predict high-risk patients for recurrence. The strength of the evidence is solid and looks at a novel approach but an approach that still has opportunities to improve.

Reviewed by eLife

WWOX promotes osteosarcoma development via upregulation of Myc

1. Rania Akkawi
2. Osama Hidmi
3. Ameen Haji Yehya
4. Jonathon Monin
5. Judith Diment
6. Yotam Drier
7. Gary S. Stein
8. Rami I. Aqeilan

Reviewed by Review Commons

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma organoids as models of chromosomal instability

1. Maria Vias
2. Lena Morrill Gavarró
3. Carolin M Sauer
4. Deborah A Sanders
5. Anna M Piskorz
6. Dominique-Laurent Couturier
7. Stéphane Ballereau
8. Bárbara Hernando
9. Michael P Schneider
10. James Hall
11. Filipe Correia-Martins
12. Florian Markowetz
13. Geoff Macintyre
14. James D Brenton

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study reveals that patient-derived organoids recapitulate similar genomic signatures as that of the parental tissue, which could be a useful model to evaluate chromosome instability, drug sensitivity, and intratumoral heterogeneity. However, whereas some of the sequencing data are compelling, the theoretical analysis is incomplete and would benefit from a more rigorous definition. With the theoretical part strengthened, the work will be of interest to medical biologists working on ovarian carcinoma.

Reviewed by eLife

PTEN deficiency exposes a requirement for an ARF GTPase module for integrin‐dependent invasion in ovarian cancer

1. Konstantina Nikolatou
2. Emma Sandilands
3. Alvaro Román‐Fernández
4. Erin M Cumming
5. Eva Freckmann
6. Sergio Lilla
7. Lori Buetow
8. Lynn McGarry
9. Matthew Neilson
10. Robin Shaw
11. David Strachan
12. Crispin Miller
13. Danny T Huang
14. Iain A McNeish
15. James C Norman
16. Sara Zanivan
17. David M Bryant

Reviewed by Review Commons

Opposing roles for ADAMTS2 and ADAMTS14 in myofibroblast differentiation and function

1. Edward P Carter
2. Kubra K Yoneten
3. Nuria Gavara
4. Eleanor J Tyler
5. Valentine Gauthier
6. Elizabeth R Murray
7. Peter ten Dijke
8. Angus J Cameron
9. Oliver Pearce
10. Richard P Grose

Reviewed by Review Commons

Metabolic clogging of mannose triggers dNTP loss and genomic instability in human cancer cells

1. Yoichiro Harada
2. Yu Mizote
3. Takehiro Suzuki
4. Akiyoshi Hirayama
5. Satsuki Ikeda
6. Mikako Nishida
7. Toru Hiratsuka
8. Ayaka Ueda
9. Yusuke Imagawa
10. Kento Maeda
11. Yuki Ohkawa
12. Junko Murai
13. Hudson H Freeze
14. Eiji Miyoshi
15. Shigeki Higashiyama
16. Heiichiro Udono
17. Naoshi Dohmae
18. Hideaki Tahara
19. Naoyuki Taniguchi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors present valuable findings regarding the mechanism of high mannose induced cellular toxicity in cancer cells. The evidence supporting genomic instability as the anti-cancer activity of mannose is convincing with multiple orthogonal approaches showing consistent results, but the conclusions related to metabolic remodeling could be further strengthened by additional metabolomics data. While the findings are limited to genetically modified cancer cell lines cultured in vitro, this work will be of interest to cell biologists working on cancer metabolism.

Reviewed by eLife

The CD73 immune checkpoint promotes tumor cell metabolic fitness

1. David Allard
2. Isabelle Cousineau
3. Eric H Ma
4. Bertrand Allard
5. Yacine Bareche
6. Hubert Fleury
7. John Stagg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study demonstrates a non-canonical, cancer-cell intrinsic role of the ectonucleotidase CD73 in the regulation of cancer cell metabolism. The evidence supporting the claims is solid, although further experimental details and conditions would strengthen the evidence provided.

Reviewed by eLife

fMetastatic potential in clonal melanoma cells is driven by a rare, early-invading subpopulation

1. Amanpreet Kaur
2. Luciann Cuenca
3. Karun Kiani
4. Gianna T. Busch
5. Dylan Fingerman
6. Margaret C. Dunagin
7. Jingxin Li
8. Ian Dardani
9. Eric M. Sanford
10. Jordan Pemberton
11. Yogesh Goyal
12. Ashani T. Weeraratna
13. Meenhard Herlyn
14. Arjun Raj

Reviewed by Review Commons