Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the most common and deadly malignancies, with limited effective treatment options. Cuproptosis is a novel regulated cell death triggered by mitochondrial copper overload (Cu2+) and has been implicated in several cancers. However, the mechanisms governing cuproptosis in CRC are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of ubiquitin-specific proteases (USPs), key regulators of protein stability, in modulating cuproptosis in CRC. Through integrative analysis of publicly available CRC transcriptomic datasets, we identified oncogenic USPs potentially involved in cuproptosis regulation. Among them, USP11 emerged as significantly overexpressed in CRC tissues, and its elevated expression was correlated with poorer patient survival. We next examined the functional role of USP11 in two CRC cell lines and patient-derived CRC organoids. Cells were treated with elesclomol and CuCl2, a combination known to induce cuproptosis. Functional assays revealed that USP11 promotes cell viability, colony formation, survival, and migration/invasion and suppresses cuproptosis in response to treatment. Mechanistic studies showed that USP11 directly binds to and deubiquitinates ISCU, a scaffold protein essential for iron-sulfur cluster assembly and known to bind Cu2+. This deubiquitination stabilizes ISCU, thereby preventing its proteasomal degradation. Rescue experiments further confirmed that ISCU is a key downstream effector mediating USP11's cuproptosis resistance effect. Finally, in patient-derived CRC organoid models, knockdown of USP11 significantly enhanced cuproptosis upon elesclomol/CuCl2 treatment, validating our in vitro findings. Collectively, our work identifies USP11 as a novel inhibitor of cuproptosis in CRC, acting through the stabilization of ISCU. This newly uncovered USP11-ISCU axis contributes to tumor resistance against cuproptotic stress and highlights a potential therapeutic target for sensitizing CRC to copper-induced cell death.

Immune cell function is remarkably plastic, allowing T cells, NK cells, and macrophages to transition from resting or quiescent states to proliferative, cytotoxic, or inflammatory programs. These functional shifts are tightly coupled to metabolic reprogramming, which not only fuels energy and biosynthesis but also shapes epigenetic and transcriptional landscapes that guide immune responses. In this review, we highlight how intrinsic metabolic pathways which include glycolysis, fatty acid oxidation, amino acid metabolism, and TCA cycle intermediates, regulate T and NK cell proliferation, cytotoxicity, memory formation, and epigenetic programs. We also examine macrophages, whose polarization into pro-inflammatory M1 or tissue-reparative M2 states is orchestrated by distinct metabolic programs such as arginine metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and fatty acid oxidation, with consequences for local immune regulation. We then explore how tumors exploit these metabolic dependencies to create hostile microenvironments that restrict nutrients, accumulate immunosuppressive metabolites, and dampen immune cell activity. Finally, we discuss emerging metabolic interventions designed to restore immune fitness, enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors, and improve the persistence and cytotoxicity of adoptive T cell therapies, including CAR-T cells, in nutrient-deprived and hypoxic tumor niches. By linking immune cell plasticity to metabolic control, this review provides a framework for understanding how metabolism shapes immunity and identifies strategies to harness these pathways for next-generation cancer immunotherapies.

Serine proteases play multifaceted roles in cancer, affecting tumor formation, progression, and metastasis. While most serine proteases studied act as tumor promoters by remodeling the extracellular matrix and activating signaling pathways, others can function as tumor suppressors. Prostasin is a glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored serine protease that is expressed in epithelial tissues, including the ductal epithelium of the breast. We found that prostasin protein expression is lost in high-grade, poorly differentiated, invasive ductal carcinoma in both mice and humans. To test whether prostasin impacts tumor progression and metastasis, prostasin-deficient mice were crossed into the oncogene-induced transgenic MMTV-PymT mammary tumor model. While prostasin deficiency did not affect primary tumor growth, it resulted in a significantly increased spontaneous dissemination of cancer cells to the lungs, suggesting a causal relationship between the loss of prostasin expression and progression to distant metastasis of breast cancer. At the cellular level, re-expression of prostasin in human breast cancer cells that have lost endogenous prostasin attenuated their invasive properties. Importantly, silencing prostasin expression in non-transformed human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs) resulted in the disruption of epithelial integrity and the loss of tight junctions (TJs), an early hallmark of cells acquiring an invasive phenotype. Discovery proteomics identified HMEC-expressed fibronectin (FN) as a regulatory target of prostasin and revealed increased levels of FN upon prostasin silencing. Mechanistically, cellular FN plays a causal role in TJ integrity in HMECs, and concomitant silencing of FN and prostasin rescues the defects caused by prostasin loss. Prostasin-mediated FN regulation represents a novel mechanism for regulating mammary epithelial cell TJ integrity and a potential candidate pathway for targeted therapy in breast cancer patients.

Choroid plexus carcinoma (CPC) is a class of rare malignant life-threatening pediatric brain tumors, with a median survival of ~2.5-3 years [1, 2]. Recent advances in human genomics, cellular studies, and animal models have improved our understanding of the pathophysiology and molecular characteristics of CPC. However, because this cancer is rare, it remains understudied. This limited research has led to a limited understanding of the tumor's heterogeneity and molecular pathogenesis, resulting in fewer treatment options. Surgical resection remains the most significant contributor to patient survival and is often combined with chemotherapy, but tumors can still recur and metastasize. The post-surgical 5-year survival rate for CPC is only 60-65% and the adjuvant anti-mitotic radiation or chemotherapy included in standard treatment results in lifelong side effects for these children. Here we conduct a systematic review of existing literature and analyze the current body of research on CPC with special focus on preclinical models to highlight progress and barriers while emphasizing important open questions for improving patient treatment and longevity outcomes. This analysis underscores the importance of scholarly discussion and further exploration into the carcinogenesis of CPC.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) cell lines represent the main molecular subtypes of tumors and are valuable models for preclinical investigations. However, cell lines can diverge over time and careful selection of models based on their molecular features is key. We have authenticated 103 commonly used CRC cell lines and present the mutation profiles of 20 CRC-relevant genes sequenced to an average depth of 575 times coverage. The cell lines reflected the distinct mutation patterns of hypermutation phenotypes associated with microsatellite instability and pathogenic POLE mutations. Hypermutated cell lines appeared to have a stronger mutational divergence and more frequent subclonal mutations, while mutations not associated with hypermutation were more frequently homozygous or hemizygous, classified as pathogenic, and subject to stronger selection pressure. Loss of heterozygosity at mutated loci was primarily observed in tumor suppressor genes. Genetic interactions based on co-occurring mutations identified cell lines representative of particularly aggressive subtypes of CRC, including concurrent BRAF p.V600 and truncating APC mutations, as well as APC/TP53/RAS triple mutations with double hits of APC. This study provides a resource to guide the selection of cell lines for functional studies of CRC, and detailed mutation data including classifications of pathogenicity, variant allele frequencies and illustrations of the mutation distribution along the length of encoded proteins are included.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is a devastating malignancy with numerous therapeutic targets to guide treatment strategies against the disease. However, given the limited efficacy of current frontline targeted therapies in prolonging the survival for HCC patients both as single agents and in combination, evaluating the potential of epigenome remodelling as a therapeutic target opens unexplored avenues for the clinical management of HCC. In this study, we identified epigenetic vulnerabilities to expand the repertoire of therapeutic strategies for HCC patients. To identify epigenetic regulators essential in HCC, we integrated the functional responses of six HCC cell lines to genetic perturbation of epigenetic regulators using esiRNA with existing data from publicly available databases. Correlation between phenotypic responses of HCC cells to large-scale genetic knockdown of epigenetic regulators and publicly available datasets narrowed down the pool of epigenetic vulnerabilities in HCC to two prospective epigenetic oncogenes (SUPT7L and SMARCC1) and one prospective epigenetic tumour suppressor (PHF2). Subsequently, PHF2 loss-of-function studies in HCC cells were performed through functional, molecular and proteomic analyses. Deeper investigations into PHF2 further established its functional role in mitigating cancer cell growth in vitro. Molecular and proteomic analyses in PHF2-deficient cells further suggested that PHF2 functionally suppresses cancer growth in part through the regulation of the cytoprotective protein, SRXN1. Further characterisation of PHF2-deficient cells were suggestive of independence from the Keap1-Nrf2 pathway. Collectively, our study suggests that PHF2 acts as a candidate epigenetic tumour suppressor in HCC patients through the downregulation of SRXN1, potentially independent of Nrf2.

Iron enables tumor cells to maintain pro-tumoral functions including DNA synthesis and repair, drug resistance and metabolic processes such as oxidative phosphorylation and regulation of reactive oxygen species. To meet these demands, tumor cells rewire iron metabolism to increase iron uptake and use. Therefore, disrupting iron metabolism either by limiting availability or by exploiting iron accumulation to induce ferroptosis, might be a promising strategy for cancer therapy. Recent studies suggest that other cell populations in the tumor microenvironment, including immune cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts, depend on iron and can contribute to iron dysregulation in tumors. Here, we will discuss how iron-dependent pathways contribute to tumor development, with a focus on iron sulfur cluster proteins and heme and their effects on metabolism. In addition, we will describe the relevance of iron crosstalk within the tumor microenvironment in promoting tumor growth, metabolic reprogramming and immune evasion. Finally, we will explore the therapeutic potential of targeting iron-dependent processes beyond the scope of ferroptosis.

Bone metastsis in advanced breast cancer patients are usually osteolytic. A better understanding of the mechanisms in osteolytic metastasis is critical for the development of new therapies. YTH domain-containing family protein 3 (YTHDF3) has been reported to function as an N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-modified mRNA regulator. In this study, we found YTDHF3 expression was associated with clinical characteristics of breast cancer patients. YTHDF3 expression influenced the migration and invasion capacity of breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, and low expression of YTHDF3 suppressed cancer cell-induced osteoclast differentiation and osteolytic bone destruction. Moreover, we found YTHDF3 enhanced the translation of zinc finger E-box-binding protein 1 (ZEB1) and SMAD family member 5 (SMAD5) by reading the m6A modification sites in their mRNAs and further promoted the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of breast cancer cells. Enhanced expression of ZEB1 promoted the transcription of bone morphogenetic protein inhibitors such as NOG, FST and CCN2, which boosts osteolytic metastasis. Furthermore, we newly found Wnt family member 5B (WNT5B) expression was regulated by ZEB1, also involved in osteolytic process. In conclusion, YTHDF3 plays an important role in osteolytic metastasis and it may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for breast cancer bone metastasis.

The pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) supplies abundant reducing equivalents and biosynthetic precursors to support the rapid proliferation of tumor cells. An increased PPP flux is a hallmark of metabolic reprogramming in tumors. Although nuclear factor of activated T-cells c1 (NFATc1) promotes oncogenesis in various cancers, its role in metabolic reprogramming remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that NFATc1 enhances NAD kinase (NADK) expression, elevating intracellular NADP+ levels to activate the PPP, thereby boosting proliferation. Furthermore, NFATc1 binds to both the p1 and p2 promoters of MDM2, sustaining its expression, thereby promoting metabolic reprogramming and accelerating cell cycle progression. Finally, we demonstrated that NFATc1 inhibitors suppress colorectal cancer (CRC) growth by targeting the NFATc1/NADK and NFATc1/MDM2 axis and synergize with oxaliplatin. In summary, our findings reveal that targeting NFATc1 simultaneously restricts biosynthetic precursors and impairs cell cycle progression in CRC, suggesting that NFATc1 inhibition is a promising therapeutic strategy.

BRCA1, a well-known tumor suppressor, maintains genomic integrity by facilitating homologous recombination (HR) repair and protecting DNA replication forks. However, its roles beyond DNA repair and replication remain largely unexplored. Here, we demonstrate that BRCA1 interacts with the RNA-binding protein PARP13 in the cytoplasm of ovarian cancer cells, with DNA damage enhancing this interaction via DNA-PK. Notably, BRCA1/PARP13 association is essential for cell survival but does not influence DNA repair efficacy following DNA damage. Mechanistically, PARP13 binds and destabilizes the mRNA of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein SEC61G. Upon DNA damage, BRCA1 disrupts PARP13-mediated SEC61G mRNA decay, leading to SEC61G upregulation. Elevated SEC61G levels cause calcium leakage from the ER into the cytosol, activating the pro-survival kinase Akt. These findings identify the BRCA1-PARP13-SEC61G axis as a non-canonical DNA damage response (DDR) pathway and highlight mRNA stability and ER calcium signaling as potential therapeutic targets to overcome chemoresistance.The schematic illustrates the mechanism by which non-canonical BRCA1 promotes cell survival through regulating PARP13-mediated SEC61G mRNA decay. Under DNA damage-free conditions (left panel), SEC61G maintains cellular calcium homeostasis between the endoplasmic reticulum and cytosol to support normal physiological functions. Upon DNA damage induction (right panel), enhanced interaction between BRCA1 and PARP13 attenuates the mRNA degradation activity of PARP13 toward SEC61G, leading to upregulated SEC61G protein expression. The aberrant accumulation of SEC61G triggers endoplasmic reticulum calcium leakage, which subsequently activates the AKT signaling pathway to enhance cell survival capacity.