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Cancer

Oncogene brought into the loop

Nature volume 529, pages 34–35 (2016)Cite this article

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Analysis of the 3D structure of DNA in tumour cells reveals how mutations in the IDH1 gene, and associated changes in methyl groups attached to DNA, elevate the expression of cancer-promoting genes. See Letter p.110

The discovery in the late 2000s that mutations in the gene that encodes the enzyme isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are often associated with glioma, the most common form of brain cancer, was unexpected and tantalizing1,2. The IDH1 protein is involved in the citric-acid cycle — a metabolic process that is used by nearly all cells to generate energy, and that in 2008 had only recently been connected to cancer3,4. The discovery therefore supported the long-standing theory that altered metabolism could transform normal cells into cancerous ones. On page 110 of this issue, Flavahan et al.5 report that an abnormal metabolite generated by mutant IDH1 may drive cancer primarily by altering the 3D conformation of DNA.

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Figure 1: Breaking down boundaries to cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Matthew R. Grimmer and Joseph F. Costello are in the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94158, USA.,

    Matthew R. Grimmer & Joseph F. Costello

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  1. Matthew R. Grimmer
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  2. Joseph F. Costello
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Correspondence to Matthew R. Grimmer or Joseph F. Costello.

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Competing interests

J.F.C. is co-founder of Telo Therapeutics Inc.

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Grimmer, M., Costello, J. Oncogene brought into the loop. Nature 529, 34–35 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16330

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