Cancer Biology

Prostate cancer associated fibroblasts have distinct morphomechanical features that are associated with patient outcome

1. Antje Garside
2. Angela Jacobi
3. Shivakumar Keerthikumar
4. Vaibhav Mahajan
5. Michelle Richards
6. Birunthi Niranjan
7. Linda Teng
8. Nicholas Choo
9. Gail P Risbridger
10. Mitchell G Lawrence
11. Anna V. Taubenberger

Reviewed by Life Science Editors Foundation

S100a4+ alveolar macrophages accelerate the progression of precancerous atypical adenomatous hyperplasia by promoting the angiogenic function regulated by fatty acid metabolism

1. Hong Huang
2. Ying Yang
3. Qiuju Zhang
4. Yongfeng Yang
5. Zhenqi Xiong
6. Shengqiang Mao
7. Tingting Song
8. Yilong Wang
9. Zhiqiang Liu
10. Hong Bu
11. Li Zhang
12. Le Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is an important study demonstrating the importance of S100A4+ alveolar macrophages in the earlier stages of tumour development and suggesting a role in angiogenesis. As such this convincing study is of interest to cancer biologists focused on early tumour development and those interested in the development of therapeutics that may specifically target early cancers.

Reviewed by eLife

Loss function of tumor suppressor FRMD8 confers resistance to tamoxifen therapy via a dual mechanism

1. Weijie Wu
2. Miao Yu
3. Qianchen Li
4. Yiqian Zhao
5. Lei Zhang
6. Yi Sun
7. Zhenbin Wang
8. Yuqing Gong
9. Wenjing Wang
10. Chenying Liu
11. Jing Zhang
12. Yan Tang
13. Xiaojie Xu
14. Xiaojing Guo
15. Jun Zhan
16. Hongquan Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The research presents valuable findings on the impact of FRMD8 loss on tumor progression and resistance to tamoxifen therapy. Through a series of convincing and systematic experiments, the author thoroughly investigates the role of FRMD8 in breast cancer and its underlying regulatory mechanisms. The study confirms that FRMD8 holds potential as a therapeutic target for reversing tamoxifen resistance, offering helpful insights for future treatment strategies.

Reviewed by eLife

Telomeres control human telomerase ( hTERT ) expression through non-telomeric TRF2

1. Antara Sengupta
2. Soujanya Vinayagamurthy
3. Drishti Soni
4. Rajlekha Deb
5. Ananda Kishore Mukherjee
6. Subhajit Dutta
7. Jushta Jaiswal
8. Mukta Yadav
9. Shalu Sharma
10. Sulochana Bagri
11. Shuvra Shekhar Roy
12. Priya Poonia
13. Ankita Singh
14. Divya Khanna
15. Amit Kumar Bhatt
16. Akshay Sharma
17. Suman Saurav
18. Rajender K Motiani
19. Shantanu Chowdhury

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors of this important study investigate how telomere length regulates hTERT expression via non-telomeric binding of the telomere-associated protein TRF2. They conclusively show that TRF2 binding to long telomeres results in a reduction in its binding to the hTERT promoter, while short telomeres restore TRF2 binding in the hTERT promoter, recruiting repressor complexes like PRC2, and suppressing hTERT expression. There is convincing support for the claims and the findings should be of broad interest for cell biologists and those working in fields where telomeres alter function, such as cancer and aging.

Reviewed by eLife

Ezh2 Delays Activation of Differentiation Genes During Normal Cerebellar Granule Neuron Development and in Medulloblastoma

1. James Purzner
2. Alexander S Brown
3. Teresa Purzner
4. Lauren Ellis
5. Sara Broski
6. Ulrike Litzenburger
7. Kaytlin Andrews
8. Aryaman Sharma
9. Xin Wang
10. Michael D Taylor
11. Yoon-Jae Cho
12. Margaret T Fuller
13. Matthew P Scott

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Using an unbiased approach, this important study discovered a role of Ezh2 in the differentiation of granule neuron precursors, the cell of origin for Shh group of medulloblastoma. Furthermore, the authors also provided solid evidence that combined inhibition of Ezh2 and CDK4/6 likely represents a promising strategy for the treatment of this subgroup of MB. Validation of these findings using the FDA-approved Ezh2 inhibitor is needed to further strengthen this preclinical study.

Reviewed by eLife

Spatially defined multicellular functional units in colorectal cancer revealed from single cell and spatial transcriptomics

1. Inbal Avraham-Davidi
2. Simon Mages
3. Johanna Klughammer
4. Noa Moriel
5. Shinya Imada
6. Matan Hofree
7. Evan Murray
8. Jonathan Chen
9. Karin Pelka
10. Arnav Mehta
11. Genevieve M. Boland
12. Toni Delorey
13. Leah Caplan
14. Danielle Dionne
15. Robert Strasser
16. Jana Lalakova
17. Anezka Niesnerova
18. Hao Xu
19. Morgane Rouault
20. Itay Tirosh
21. Nir Hacohen
22. Fei Chen
23. Omer Yilmaz
24. Jatin Roper
25. Orit Rozenblatt-Rosen
26. Mor Nitzan
27. Aviv Regev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work presents a useful resource combining scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics studies to map mouse pre-clinical models of colorectal cancer, identifying distinct cellular programs and microenvironments that could enhance patient stratification and therapeutic approaches in colorectal cancer. While the novelty of the biological findings remains limited and incompletely supported by the evidence provided in the manuscript, the data were collected and analyzed using a validated methodology that will be of interest to the community in future studies.

Reviewed by eLife

In vivo targeted and deterministic single-cell malignant transformation

1. Pierluigi Scerbo
2. Benjamin Tisserand
3. Marine Delagrange
4. Héloise Debare
5. David Bensimon
6. Bertrand Ducos

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study employs an optogenetics approach aimed at activating oncogene (KRASG12V) expression in a single somatic cell, with a focus on following the progression of activated cell to examine tumourigenesis probabilities under altered tissue environments. Although the description of the methodologies applied is incomplete, the authors propose a mechanism whereby reactivation of re-programming factors correlates with the increased likelihood of a mutant cell undergoing malignant transformation. This work will be of interest to developmental and cancer biologists, especially in relation to the genetic tools described.

Reviewed by eLife

Notch signaling maintains a progenitor-like subclass of hepatocellular carcinoma

1. Kerstin Seidel
2. Robert Piskol
3. Thi Thu Thao Nguyen
4. Amy Shelton
5. Charisa Cottonham
6. Cecile C de la Cruz
7. Joseph Castillo
8. Jesse Garcia
9. Udi Segal
10. Mark Merchant
11. Yeqing Angela Yang
12. Jasmine Chen
13. Musa Ahmed
14. Alexis Scherl
15. Rajesh Vij
16. Lluc Mosteiro
17. Yan Wu
18. Zora Modrusan
19. Ciara Metcalfe
20. Chris Siebel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study, Seidel et al. identify and characterize a novel subset of hepatocellular carcinoma patient-derived xenograft models defined by active Jagged 1-Notch2 signaling and a distinctive progenitor-like gene expression profile. Within the limitations of the PDX system they used, their methods are state-of-the-art, their data are strong and believable, and their conclusions are convincing. However, the ability to identify HCC patients that might respond is limited, and the mechanistic assessment downstream of JAG1/NOTCH2 is relatively descriptive. Some additional clarifications and experiments would strengthen the paper.

Reviewed by eLife

STAMBPL1 activates the GRHL3/HIF1A/VEGFA axis through interaction with FOXO1 to promote angiogenesis in triple-negative breast cancer

1. Huan Fang
2. Huichun Liang
3. Chuanyu Yang
4. Dewei Jiang
5. Qianmei Luo
6. Wen-Ming Cao
7. Huifeng Zhang
8. Ceshi Chen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study conducted by Fang et al. offers significant and fundamental insights, notably enhancing our understanding of angiogenesis. While some of the claims are supported by convincing experimental approaches, others lack sufficient validation. Additionally, there are instances where critical experimental controls appear to be absent.

Reviewed by eLife

Propionyl-CoA carboxylase subunit B regulates anti-tumor T cells in a pancreatic cancer mouse model

1. Han V Han
2. Richard Efem
3. Barbara Rosati
4. Kevin Lu
5. Sara Maimouni
6. Ya-Ping Jiang
7. Valeria Montoya
8. Ando Van Der Velden
9. Wei-Xing Zong
10. Richard Z Lin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The significance of the findings is valuable, with implications for immunotherapy design in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The evidence was considered incomplete and partially supportive of the major claims.

Reviewed by eLife