Maria Goicoechea - PhD Student in Cancer Research at ICR, London

Respiratory viral infections awaken metastatic breast cancer cells in lungs - Nature Mouse models show that respiratory infections from viruses such as influenza and SARS-CoV-2 can trigger metastasis of dormant breast cancer cells in the lungs, a finding supported by epidemiological data from two large human cohorts.

Viral infections can wake up dormant breast cancer cells in the lung, driving metastasis

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Autocrine interferon poisoning mediates ADAR1-dependent synthetic lethality in BRCA1/2-mutant cancers - Nature Communications The RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 blocks interferon responses triggered by cytosolic RNA sensors, and has been proposed as a potential target in immuno-oncology. Here, the authors report that BRCA1/2 and A...

ADAR1 loss in BRCA1/2 drives R-loop buildup and lethal IFN signaling

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Exciting new paper in Cancer Discovery: ecDNA drives spatial tumor evolution

aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscov...

Rethinking RNA-binding proteins: Riboregulation challenges prevailing views The advent of system-wide proteomic approaches has largely expanded the number of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). This review discusses how recent discoveries are transforming our understanding of biolog...

Regulation by RNAs might be even more extensive than we thought. Many enzymes and other proteins not previously considered as RNA-binding proteins do seem to fall into this class & might have their activity regulated by RNA.
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

RNA N-glycosylation enables immune evasion and homeostatic efferocytosis - Nature N-glycans on glycoRNAs prevent innate immune sensing of endogenous small RNAs, and the natural mechanism they use demonstrates how glycoRNAs exist on the cell surface and in the endosomal network with...

#GlycoPower! @vijayrathinam.bsky.social
@raflynn5.bsky.social @vinnieviruses.bsky.social &co show @nature.com that N-glycosylation of host small-RNAs present at cell surface prevents immune recognition by TLR3 and TLR7 upon apoptotic cells uptake avoiding autoinflammation!

Thrilled to present my research at the 2024-25 Annual ICR Conference! And deeply grateful to receive an Oral Presentation prize! Huge thanks to the whole @meierlabicr.bsky.social, organizers, and brilliant colleagues for the inspiration. Onward! 🚀 #ICR2025 #Research #Science

SP140–RESIST pathway regulates interferon mRNA stability and antiviral immunity - Nature The antiviral protein SP140 negatively regulates Ifnb1 mRNA stability by directly repressing the expression of the immune regulator RESIST.

SP140 lowers IFN-β by switching off RESIST (a newly found mRNA stabilizer) and stalls gamma-herpesvirus. Dual antiviral punch!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Palbociclib and dsRNA sensor co-operate to enhance anti-cancer effects through ER stress and modulation of immune evasion - Nature Communications Pattern recognition receptors (PRR) critically modulate innate immunity. Here the authors show in cancer cells that interferon responses and anti-tumor immunity activated by dsRNA-induced PRR signalin...

Just out in Nature Comms! Palbociclib in combination with virotherapy amplify ER stress and immune activation.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Immune evasion through mitochondrial transfer in the tumour microenvironment - Nature Mitochondria with mutations in their DNA from cancer cells can be transferred to T cells in the tumour microenvironment, which leads to T cell dysfunction and impaired antitumour immunity.

Cancer cells transfer mitochondria with mutated mtDNA to tumor-infiltrating T cells, impairing their function and promoting immune escape. Awesome work!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cytosolic bacterial pathogens activate TLR pathways in tumors that synergistically enhance STING agonist cancer therapies Intracellular bacterial pathogens are distinctive tools for fighting cancer, as they can proliferate in tumors and deliver therapeutic payloads to the…

Delivery of cytosolic bacterial pathogens elicits anti-tumor responses via actiavtion of TLR pathway.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Transposon exonization generates new protein-coding sequences In a recent issue of Cell, Arribas et al. and Pasquesi et al. explore the phenomenon of transposable element (TE) exonization and its impact on proteomic and immune diversity, highlighting its potential role as a driver of evolutionary innovation.

Exonization of transposons leads to the formation of new protein-coding sequences, potentially impacting immune regulatory pathways.

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

RNA sensing induced by chromosome missegregation augments anti-tumor immunity Sasaki et al. demonstrate that chromosome missegregation induced by SAC inhibition results in cytoplasmic dsRNA accumulation, primarily generated from non-exonic regions in the MNs. Activation of MAVS-mediated dsRNA sensing cooperates with dsDNA sensing to promote anti-tumor immunity.

Chromosome missegration activates dsRNA-sensing pathway in a MAVS-dependent manner and enhances innate immune signaling!

www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Cancer cells restrict immunogenicity of retrotransposon expression via distinct mechanisms Overexpression of transposable elements is a common feature of cancer. Sun, You, et al. show that, in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, tumor cells adapt through different mechanisms to mitigate a spe...

A new study in @cellpress.bsky.social Immunity from the lab of Dr. Benjamin Greenbaum provides insights into how #PancreaticCancer cells accommodate active retrotransposons without triggering the innate immune response. #oncsky #medsky

Insights by Erika Valeri and @kajastelab.bsky.social: Two works by Chan et al. (https://buff.ly/3D66PfJ) and Ru et al. (https://buff.ly/49or5Fo) identify defective RNA processing as the root cause of impaired antiviral immunity against #SARSCoV2 in the human brainstem: https://buff.ly/4g74MXy

Graphical summary of our paper. In mice, prior lower airway exposure to diverse inflammatory stimuli, including chronic bacterial infections such as M. tuberculosis, acute bacterial infections such as pulmonary S. aureus, viral infections such as Influenza A, type-II allergic responses such as the OVA-Alum model, activation of pulmonary TLR9 by CpG or pulmonary TLR1/2 by Pam3CSK4 leads to reduced viral burden upon subsequent infection with SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2). (2) This SCV2 restriction occurs prior to induction of SCV2-specific adaptive immune responses and is mediated through innate immune responses, including the induction of IFN-I, TNFα and IL-1 and sustained changes to the TRM (Tissue resident macrophage) cellular compartment and the pulmonary epithelium. (3) Innate cytokine and TLR signaling to both recruited immune cells and the pulmonary epithelium creates a microenvironment in the lung that limits early replication of SCV2. IFN-I signaling to pulmonary ECs (epithelial cells) increases expression of interferon-stimulated genes, that likely cell-intrinsically limit viral replication. TNF- or IL-1 suppress SCV2 independently of IFN-I signaling. TNF acts exclusively through radio-resistant cell types such as the lung epithelium, whereas IL-1 affords control both direct and indirectly, through either stromal and hematopoietic cell types, to restrict overall early SCV2 burden.

Best #Nikolaus 🎅! Our paper on how the 🫁 microenvironment can shape #innate immunity against #viruses is out @sciimmunology.bsky.social This was a herculean effort brilliantly led by @pauljbaker.bsky.social who singlehandedly established the model in the lab during the pandemic. 🧪 #Immunosky 1/9

The HuSH complex silences retrotransposable elements. We identify HuSH2, centered on TASOR2, targeting KRAB-ZNFs and interferon genes, balancing retrotransposon silencing and immune regulation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

IRE1α silences dsRNA to prevent taxane-induced pyroptosis in triple-negative breast cancer Mechanisms dictating the form of chemotherapy-induced cancer cell death are elusive. This study reports that immunologically cold triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) hijacks an ancient ER stress resp...

Blocking IRE1α enables RNA accumulation, triggering ZBP1-driven cell death and making cold TNBC tumors ICI-sensitive!

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...