Cancer articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Hippo tumour suppressor pathway is inactivated in many cancer types, but how this occurs is unclear. Here, the authors show that integrin-linked kinase (ILK) has a role in inhibiting the Hippo pathway and pharmacological inhibition of ILK reduces the size of tumours in mice.

    • Isabel Serrano
    • , Paul C. McDonald
    •  & Shoukat Dedhar

  • Article |

    Many cancers harbour mutations in the tumour suppressor p53, which often then gains oncogenic functions. Here, the authors show that mutant p53 enhances glycolysis in tumour cells by promoting glucose uptake via a mechanism involving GLUT1, RhoA and ROCK.

    • Cen Zhang
    • , Juan Liu
    •  & Zhaohui Feng

  • Article |

    Insulinomas develop from pancreatic β-cells and secrete insulin, but the underlying genetic defects are largely unknown. In this study, Cao et al. identify recurrent T372R mutations in the transcription factor YY1, and validate this hotspot mutation in 30% of insulinomas.

    • Yanan Cao
    • , Zhibo Gao
    •  & Guang Ning

  • Article |

    Whether microRNA processing mediated by Dicer is regulated in a cell-cycle-dependent manner is unknown. Here, Chen et al.show that Cyclin D1, which is important in the control of the cell cycle, regulates the expression of Dicer, and that Cyclin D1 and Dicer expression levels correlate in breast cancer.

    • Zuoren Yu
    • , Liping Wang
    •  & Richard G. Pestell

  • Article |

    Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 80–90% of all kidney cancers, but to date, only five genome-wide significant RCC risk loci have been identified. Here, Gudmundsson et al.identify a new RCC susceptibility locus and provide insight into the genetic basis of the disease.

    • Julius Gudmundsson
    • , Patrick Sulem
    •  & Kari Stefansson

  • Article |

    Nodal signalling has been implicated in the asymmetric positioning of various organs. Here, Noël et al.show that the asymmetry of the embryonic zebrafish heart is also established in the absence of Nodal signalling, suggesting a Nodal-independent mechanism that relies on actomyosin activity.

    • Emily S. Noël
    • , Manon Verhoeven
    •  & Jeroen Bakkers

  • Article |

    The miR-372-3 cluster has a role in oncogenesis. In this study, by utilizing parthenogenetic induced pluripotent stem cells, that lack the paternal genome, Stelzer et al.report that these miR-372-3 are negatively regulated by a paternally imprinted antisense transcript and that loss of its expression promotes oncogenesis.

    • Yonatan Stelzer
    • , Ido Sagi
    •  & Nissim Benvenisty

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Activating mutations in the Wnt signalling pathway are associated with colon cancer. Here the authors show that tumour cells carrying mutations in APC and β-catenin are still regulated by Wnt ligands, suggesting that Wnt secretion and receptor signalling remains important to control downstream signalling.

    • Oksana Voloshanenko
    • , Gerrit Erdmann
    •  & Michael Boutros

  • Article |

    Semiconductor-based, non-optical DNA sequencing technologies such as Ion Torrent sequencing offer speed and cost advantages compared with alternative techniques. Cheng et al. demonstrate a protocol allowing the use of Ion Torrent technology to sequence DNA from chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments.

    • Christine S. Cheng
    • , Kunal Rai
    •  & Ido Amit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    PALB2 is a BRCA1-/BRCA2-interacting protein and heterozygous mutations in PALB2 are associated with hereditary breast cancer predisposition. Here the authors show that human lymphoblastoid cells from heterozygous PALB2mutation carriers display abnormal DNA replication dynamics and DNA damage response.

    • Jenni Nikkilä
    • , Ann Christin Parplys
    •  & Robert Winqvist

  • Article |

    Loss of the tumour suppressor Rb1 alone is thought to be insufficient for tumorigenesis. In this study, Liu et al. demonstrate that cells in which all three Rb1 family members are inactivated can initiate tumour formation, but only if cell survival is ensured by the retention of cell–cell contacts.

    • Yongqing Liu
    • , Ester Sánchez-Tilló
    •  & Douglas C. Dean

  • Article |

    Hodgkin’s lymphoma has a genetic component that is poorly understood. In this study, Frampton et al. perform a genome-wide association study in German patients and combine the results with a previously published UK genome-wide association study to identify susceptibility loci at 3p24.1 and 6q23.3.

    • Matthew Frampton
    • , Miguel Inacio da Silva Filho
    •  & Richard S. Houlston

  • Article |

    Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) that harbour mutations in KRas can be separated into KRas-dependent and -independent subsets. By analysing transcriptome, proteome and phosphoproteome data from NSCLC cell lines, Balbin et al. show that KRas-dependent cell lines activate the Lck pathway.

    • O. Alejandro Balbin
    • , John R. Prensner
    •  & Arul M. Chinnaiyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tumour biopsies contain contaminating normal cells and these can influence the analysis of tumour samples. In this study, Yoshihara et al.develop an algorithm based on gene expression profiles from The Cancer Genome Atlas to estimate the number of contaminating normal cells in tumour samples.

    • Kosuke Yoshihara
    • , Maria Shahmoradgoli
    •  & Roel G.W. Verhaak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyaluronan is a component of the tumour extracellular matrix. Here, Chauhan et al. show that hyaluronan increases blood pressure in collagen-rich tumours by compressing vessel walls, and that reducing the level of hyaluranon with an angiotensin II inhibitor increases blood flow and drug penetrance in tumours.

    • Vikash P. Chauhan
    • , John D. Martin
    •  & Rakesh K. Jain

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Viruses contribute to the pathogenesis of certain cancers. Using massively parallel sequencing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas to analyse viral expression in 19 tumour types, Tang et al. both confirm and reject previously described viral associations and present new information on viral integration and host interaction.

    • Ka-Wei Tang
    • , Babak Alaei-Mahabadi
    •  & Erik Larsson

  • Article |

    Many different factors contribute to the acquisition of drug resistance in cancer cells. Using single-cell analyses of leukaemia cells, the authors here provide evidence for an inductive mode of resistance, where cells express MDR1 in response to drug exposure, rather than selection of pre-existing, partially resistant cells.

    • Angela Oliveira Pisco
    • , Amy Brock
    •  & Sui Huang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    FGFR2 gene variation is associated with breast cancer risk but the molecular mechanism is unknown. Fletcher et al. provide a link between FGFR2 signalling and breast cancer susceptibility by demonstrating that FGFR2 signalling activates the ERa transcriptional network, which drives transcription of risk genes.

    • Michael N. C. Fletcher
    • , Mauro A. A. Castro
    •  & Kerstin B. Meyer

  • Article |

    The metabolic reaction catalysed by the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) enzyme is commonly perturbed in some glioma subtypes due to gain-of-function mutations in the IDH1 gene. Here, Chaumeil et al.present a method that detects mutant IDH1 activity by measuring the levels of different hyperpolarized metabolites produced by wild-type and mutant IDH1.

    • Myriam M. Chaumeil
    • , Peder E. Z. Larson
    •  & Sabrina M. Ronen

  • Article |

    The microRNA-200 family members have a role in regulating tumour angiogenesis but the underlying mechanism is unclear. In this study, Pecot et al.demonstrate that miR-200 affects angiogenesis by altering endothelial and cancer cell cytokine secretion.

    • Chad V. Pecot
    • , Rajesha Rupaimoole
    •  & Anil K. Sood

  • Article |

    Pipecolidepsin A—commonly isolated from a marine sponge—is a promising anticancer agent but is challenging to synthesise in the lab. Here the authors describe the first total synthesis of this cyclodepsipeptide using a versatile strategy applicable to other similar compounds.

    • Marta Pelay-Gimeno
    • , Yésica García-Ramos
    •  & Fernando Albericio

  • Article |

    Aggressive types of breast cancer often exhibit constitutive activation of the pro-inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB. Here, Yamamoto et al. show that, in basal-like breast cancer, NF-κB upregulates the Notch receptor ligand JAG1 in non-cancer stem cells and thereby induces proliferation of breast cancer stem cells.

    • Mizuki Yamamoto
    • , Yuu Taguchi
    •  & Jun-ichiro Inoue

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutations in the metalloproteinase Zmpste24 preclude prelamin A processing and cause premature ageing. Here, de la Rosaet al.create mosaic Zmpste24 mice, revealing that cell-extrinsic effects are essential for accelerated ageing caused by prelamin A accumulation and that prelamin A reduces invasiveness of cancer cells.

    • Jorge de la Rosa
    • , José M.P. Freije
    •  & Carlos López-Otín

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Telomerase reverse-trancriptase promoter mutations have been recently found in human melanomas. Here, Nault et al.identify telomerase reverse-trancriptase promoter mutations as the most frequent somatic genetic alterations in hepatocellular carcinomas and as the first mutation identified in cirrhotic preneoplastic lesions.

    • Jean Charles Nault
    • , Maxime Mallet
    •  & Jessica Zucman-Rossi

  • Article |

    Reactivation of telomerase has been implicated in human tumorigenesis. Here, somatic mutations in the TERT promoter are reported in cancers of the central nervous system, bladder, follicular cell-derived thyroid and melanoma, thus demonstrating that TERTpromoter mutations are a frequent event in human cancer.

    • João Vinagre
    • , Ana Almeida
    •  & Paula Soares

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many patients with breast cancer develop resistance to the drug tamoxifen and relapse. Here Johansson et al. identify the nuclear receptor retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA) as a marker of tamoxifen resistance and show that RARA expression correlates negatively with relapse-free survival of patients.

    • Henrik J. Johansson
    • , Betzabe C. Sanchez
    •  & Janne Lehtiö

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cancer-associated mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase are proposed to impair TET2-dependent DNA demethylation. By comparing the methylomes of IDH-mutant cancers, the authors identify the transcription factor EBF1 as a partner of TET2, suggesting a possible means for targeting TET2 to specific DNA sequences.

    • Paul Guilhamon
    • , Malihe Eskandarpour
    •  & Stephan Beck

  • Article |

    Tumour cells utilize a pool of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 to ensure correct protein folding in mitochondria. Here, the authors demonstrate that mitochondrial heat shock protein 90 regulates the folding of a subunit of the electron transport chain and that this can contribute to tumorigenesis.

    • Young Chan Chae
    • , Alessia Angelin
    •  & Dario C. Altieri

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cell lines are widely used in cancer research to study tumour biology. Here Domcke et al.compare genomic data from ovarian cancer cell lines with those from clinical ovarian tumour samples and identify cell lines that most closely resemble the genomic features of high-grade serous ovarian cancer.

    • Silvia Domcke
    • , Rileen Sinha
    •  & Nikolaus Schultz

  • Article |

    Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) regulates angiogenesis and FAK inhibitors are currently developed as anticancer drugs. Here Kostourou and colleagues show that genetic FAK heterozygosity or low doses of a pharmacological FAK inhibitor unexpectedly increase angiogenesis and tumour growth in vitro and in vivo.

    • Vassiliki Kostourou
    • , Tanguy Lechertier
    •  & Kairbaan Hodivala-Dilke

  • Article |

    The protein PHF20 is expressed in various cancers, but little is known about its cellular function. Here, Zhang and colleagues show that PHF20 regulates NF-κB signalling by inhibiting the interaction between its subunit p65 and the phosphatase PP2A, thereby maintaining NF-κB in an active state in the nucleus.

    • Tiejun Zhang
    • , Kyeong Ah Park
    •  & Gang Min Hur

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