Research Highlights in 2015

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  • Carter, Murrayet al. show that MYCN and the histone chaperone FACT are part of a positive feedback loop and that inhibition of FACT with a small molecule leads to tumour regression in a pre-clinical model of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma.

    • Safia Danovi
    Research Highlight
  • Wanget al. report that oncogenic KRAS, but not HRAS or NRAS, promotes self-renewal properties and tumour initiation by inhibiting non-canonical WNT/Ca2+signalling.

    • Sarah Seton-Rogers
    Research Highlight
  • Espositoet al. report the mechanisms of PARP inhibitor (PARPi) sensitivity in cells expressing certain leukaemia fusion oncoproteins and highlight the use of PARPis as a promising novel approach for treating acute myeloid leukaemia.

    • Lydia Shipman
    Research Highlight
  • Two papers inSciencepresent evidence in mice that certain species of intestinal bacteria can drive antitumour immune responses and modulate responses to immune checkpoint blockade.

    • Gemma K. Alderton
    Research Highlight
  • A study inNaturereports that astrocytoma cells form a multicellular network interconnected by distinct tumour microtubes that drive invasion, mediate cell–cell communication, enable self-repair and confer radioresistance.

    • Lydia Shipman
    Research Highlight
  • Two studies published inNaturereport that epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is not required for metastasis in mouse tumour models of breast and pancreatic cancer; however, EMT can contribute to resistance to chemotherapy.

    • Sarah Seton-Rogers
    Research Highlight
  • A paper inNature reportsthat an astrocyte exosome-derived microRNA induces the loss of PTEN expression in disseminated tumour cells in the brain, thus promoting metastasis.

    • Lydia Shipman
    Research Highlight
  • Schwabet al. show that the Fanconi anaemia pathway might prevent genome instability by stabilizing replication forks when actively transcribed DNA is encountered and by removing DNA–RNA hybrids.

    • Sarah Seton-Rogers
    Research Highlight
  • Why do some cancers only metastasize to certain organs? This question of organotropism is perplexing, and a team led by Lyden, Bromberg and Peinado have found that exosomes could be key.

    • Gemma K. Alderton
    Research Highlight
  • Bestet al. describe a diagnostic platform based on platelet RNA sequencing and self-learning algorithms that discriminates patients with cancer from healthy controls, predicts the localization of the primary tumour and provides information on the molecular tumour phenotype.

    • Liesbet Lieben
    Research Highlight
  • Three studies demonstrate that adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing introduces transcriptome diversity in tumours from a range of cancer types and show that this diversity is both functionally important and clinically relevant.

    • Lydia Shipman
    Research Highlight
  • Roger Lo and colleagues characterized the melanoma genome, transcriptome and epigenome to understand the landscape of acquired resistance to MAPK pathway inhibitors.

    • Gemma K. Alderton
    Research Highlight
  • A study published inCancer Cellreports that two FDA-approved drugs — an antidepressant and an anticoagulant — synergize to promote autophagy and slow glioma progression in mice.

    • Lydia Shipman
    Research Highlight
  • Chi Dang and colleagues show that MYC is involved in the regulation of the circadian clock, and its deregulated expression in cancer cells leads to a loss of cellular circadian rhythm and impacts cell metabolism.

    • Nicola McCarthy
    Research Highlight
  • Three papers have reported new data on resistance to bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) inhibitors and how best to use these inhibitors in combination therapy.

    • Sarah Seton-Rogers
    Research Highlight
  • Two studies published inCellhave shown that reduction of glucose levels in the tumour microenvironment by highly glycolytic tumour cells reduces the ability of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes to trigger an antitumour immune response.

    • Sarah Seton-Rogers
    Research Highlight
  • Three studies have revealed a role for the retrotransposon long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1) in tumour progression.

    • M. Teresa Villanueva
    Research Highlight
  • Westbrook and colleagues show that knockdown of spliceosome components causes synthetic lethality in cells with hyperactive MYC, highlighting a possible therapeutic opportunity.

    • Gemma K. Alderton
    Research Highlight
  • Herreroet al. have shown that inhibition of ERK dimerization with a small molecule prevents tumorigenesis.

    • Rebecca Kirk
    Research Highlight
  • Pereraet al. investigated the high levels of autophagy in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

    • Gemma K. Alderton
    Research Highlight