A cross-section of ICGEB scientific findings – and funding – from the last quarter
From ICGEB Trieste:
Published in Nature Genetics: p53 inactivation drives breast cancer metastasis to the brain through SCD1 upregulation and increased fatty acid metabolism scientists contributed to a study that uncovers why some breast cancers are especially prone to spreading to the brain. They show that loss of the tumour-suppressor gene p53—one of the most common genetic changes in cancer—plays a central role in enabling breast cancer cells to grow and thrive in the brain. The work also reveals how the brain itself contributes to this vulnerability. Together, these findings open a potential path toward more effective treatments for this devastating complication.
Published in Cell Reports: An organotypic model of ducular reaction reveals a mevalonate-dependent vulnerability in reactive biliary cells. A study describes the development of a new model capable of reconstructing key physiological features of the human liver, allowing the pathological processes that drive liver degeneration to be closely observed in the laboratory. Read more
From ICGEB New Delhi:
Published in Metabolic Engineering: Unlocking the potential of unique genes in cyanobacterial alkane synthesis. This study shows that boosting biofuel production in cyanobacteria is not just about the two well-known enzymes that make alkanes, but about rewiring the cell as a whole, changing the way scientists think about engineering microbes for biofuels. Rather than tweaking a single pathway, successful strategies will need to coordinate metabolism, energy capture from photosynthesis, protein synthesis, and transport systems, opening new paths for designing cyanobacterial strains that produce sustainable fuels more efficiently.
Published in the open-access journal from the Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC Adv: Development of substituted 2-(4-(sulfonyl)piperazin-1-yl)quinazoline molecular hybrids as a new class of antimalarials
This study introduces a new strategy for tackling Malaria by designing hybrid antimalarial molecules that combine multiple bioactive elements into a single compound. Two lead candidates showed strong parasite-killing activity at low doses, were not toxic to human cells, and are predicted to act on new molecular targets essential for parasite survival. By potentially attacking malaria through multiple pathways at once, these compounds offer a promising route toward next-generation antimalarial drugs that could stay effective even as resistance to current therapies continues to rise.
Published in J Med Virol: Plaque Characteristics of Circulating Chikungunya Virus Clinical Isolates Correlate With Initial Viral Load, Antibody, and Immune Mediators as Indicators of Disease Outcome.
A study has shown that not all chikungunya viruses behave the same way, and that simple laboratory features can reveal important clues about how the disease will unfold in patients. The key insight is that plaque size could serve as a simple, early indicator of disease outcome, helping researchers and clinicians better predict which patients are at risk of prolonged illness. This finding adds a practical new layer to understanding chikungunya severity and long-term impact.
Published in elife: PPARγ mediated enhanced lipid biogenesis fuels Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth in a drug-tolerant hepatocyte environment
Challenging the long-held view that tuberculosis is solely a disease of the lungs, this study shows that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can also infect the liver during long-term infection, where it quietly reshapes the body’s metabolism to support its own survival. The study reveals the liver as a previously hidden reservoir for TB; a discovery that helps explain why TB can cause whole-body symptoms such as severe weight loss and muscle wasting, and why treatment can sometimes fail. The work reframes tuberculosis as a systemic disease and points to new directions for improving TB therapy beyond targeting the lungs alone.
From ICGEB Cape Town:
Published in HPB (Oxford) Surgical treatment outcomes of hepatic cystic echinococcosis in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients: a South African cohort study.
This study challenges the assumption that HIV co-infection automatically leads to worse surgical outcomes in patients with hepatic cystic echinococcosis. While people living with HIV often present with more severe and complicated forms of the disease, the researchers show that once these patients reach surgery, their complication rates and survival are similar to those of HIV-negative patients. The real insight comes from the unexpectedly high proportion of HIV-positive patients requiring surgery. This suggests that HIV may not increase surgical risk itself, but instead makes the disease more aggressive and less likely to resolve without intervention, pushing patients toward surgery more often. By separating disease severity at presentation from surgical outcomes, the study reframes how clinicians should think about risk, timing of treatment, and follow-up in co-infected patients—and highlights the need for earlier detection and management rather than more cautious surgery.
Funding
Dr. Lawrence Banks and the Tumour Virology laboratory at ICGEB Trieste have received funding for five years from the AIRC Foundation for Cancer Research in italy for their project entitled “Identification of novel therapeutic approaches for Cervical Cancer“. The studies underway involve understanding how two key human papillomavirus (HPV) proteins, E6 and E7, drive cancer development and significantly deepen our understanding of how HPV hijacks cellular machinery, opening new avenues for future research aimed at developing therapies that disrupt phosphorylation-dependent interactions, potentially weakening the virus’s ability to drive cancer.
CRP Grant Publication
A review was published in Cell Biochem Funct: Mapping Three Decades of Rho GTPase Signalling in Cancer: Unveiling Loopholes and Future Directions (1990-2024)
Systematically analysing more than 1,400 published papers. the authors show a big-picture view of how cancer research on Rho GTPases has evolved over the past 30 years, how the scientific community has studied them, where the field has concentrated its efforts, and where important gaps remain. This study provides a roadmap for where future research could have the greatest impact, helping the field move beyond well-trodden paths toward more effective cancer treatments.
