Alessandro Carrer

Unravelling the genetics and epigenetics of the ageing tumour microenvironment in cancer - Nature Reviews Cancer In this Review, Easwaran and Weeraratna outline how ageing leads to epigenetic alterations in the tissue microenvironment, enhancing clonal expansion of mutations and ultimately increasing cancer risk.

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

Cardiolipin dynamics promote membrane remodeling by mitochondrial OPA1 - Nature Communications This study reveals how cardiolipin governs mitochondrial morphology by modulating the activity of human OPA1 and how its replacement by monolyso-cardiolipin, as observed in Barth syndrome, impacts mitochondrial membrane-shaping mechanisms.

Excited to share that our paper on mitochondrial cardiolipin dynamics is published in @natcomms.nature.com today! We provide molecular explanations for unique aspects of mitochondrial morphology and the mechanisms underlying cardiolipin-related Barth Syndrome.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Aerial views of campus in 1928, 1973, 2007, and 2024. A look at how Penn's landscape has changed over time.

Now online in Cancer Discovery @aacrjournals.bsky.social: Functional Mapping of Epigenomic Regulators Uncovers Coordinated Tumor Suppression by the HBO1 and MLL1 Complexes - by Yuning Tang, Monte Winslow, and colleagues doi.org/10.1158/2159... @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social

Epigenomic changes are critical non-mutational cancer drivers. Jackie Tang in our lab lead a project to generate a phenotypic roadmap of epigenomic regulators in lung tumorigenesis. Lots of unexpected and interesting tumor suppressors including the HBO1 complex doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-1565

BDH2-driven lysosome-to-mitochondria iron transfer shapes ferroptosis vulnerability of the melanoma cell states - Nature Metabolism Rizzollo et al. show that BDH2 participates in iron distribution between cellular compartments, which sets the threshold for the ferroptosis vulnerability of the melanoma cell phenotypes, ultimately a...

Do melanoma cells rewire interorganelle iron flow? ⚡️We found that BDH2 controls lysosome-to-mitochondria Fe2+ transport, coupling lysosomal pH to ferroptosis vulnerability. Huge congrats to @francirizz.bsky.social, thanks to @juliebonnereau.bsky.social and collabs 🙏

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

It’s out!!!!! We hope our review on aging, immunity, and cancer is helpful.

Such a rewarding group effort led by Melissa Dolan, with Kendra Libby, Alison Ringle, and @vangalenlab.bsky.social

So grateful to @gabriellebrewer.bsky.social @natrevcancer.nature.com for her efforts and support

AI-rendered illustration of the article's title: Sucralose consumption ablates cancer immunotherapy response through microbiome disruption

Sucralose may interfere with cancer immunotherapy - exciting and important new research from @overacrelab.bsky.social in @theaacr.bsky.social!

aacrjournals.org/cancerdiscov...

(AI-rendered illustration of the article's title)

1/🧵

2-hydroxyglutarate mediates whitening of brown adipocytes coupled to nuclear softening upon mitochondrial dysfunction - Nature Metabolism CLPP-deficiency-driven mitochondrial dysfunction in brown adipose tissue leads to the accumulation of d-2-hydroxyglutarate, in turn promoting lipid-droplet enlargement by altering gene expression and ...

Very happy to have contributed to this exiting story on nuclear softening caused by metabolic switch caused by oncometabolite 2-HG causing whitening of the brown adipocytes Trifunovic lab CECAD Cologne softeninghttps://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-025-01332-8?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Congratulations Sara and team!!

Chromatin Profiling: From ChIP to CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag and CUTAC (Steven Henikoff) | Epigenetics Podcast In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we caught up with Steven Henikoff from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle to talk about his work on Chromatin Profiling: From ChIP to CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag and CUTAC. In the last few years Steven Henikoff has been developing methods which profile the chromatin landscape by using enzyme tethering. The quest first started with ChEC-Seq, which improved on Uli Laemmli's method of Chromatin endogenous cleavage (ChEC) but used sequencing as a read-out rather than southern blotting. Next, Cleavage Under Targets & Release Using Nuclease (CUT&RUN) was developed by making a fusion protein of Protein A and micrococcal nuclease (MNase), making it possible to achieve antibody-targeted cleavage of chromatin fragments. And finally, Cleavage Under Targets & Tagmenation (CUT&Tag) was developed by using Transposase Tn5 instead of MNase, which adds sequencing adapters and fragments chromatin at the same time, streamlining the protocol even further. In this episode we discuss how working on centromeres set the stage for Steven Henikoff’s subsequent work, how he developed CUT&RUN and CUT&Tag, what the advantages and disadvantages of those methods are and how he developed all those experiments at home in his garage.   References Takehito Furuyama, Steven Henikoff (2009) Centromeric nucleosomes induce positive DNA supercoils (Cell) DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2009.04.049 Kristina Krassovsky, Jorja G. Henikoff, Steven Henikoff (2012) Tripartite organization of centromeric chromatin in budding yeast (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1118898109 Jorja G. Henikoff, Jitendra Thakur, … Steven Henikoff (2015) A unique chromatin complex occupies young α-satellite arrays of human centromeres (Science Advances) DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1400234 Epigenomics Methods: ChEC-Seq, CUT&RUN, AutoCUT&RUN, Improved CUT&RUN, CUT&Tag, Automated CUT&Tag, CUTAC, scCUT&Tag.   Related Episodes The Role of Non-Histone Proteins in Chromosome Structure and Function During Mitosis (Bill Earnshaw) Hi-C and Three-Dimensional Genome Sequencing (Erez Lieberman Aiden) In Vivo Nucleosome Structure and Dynamics (Srinivas Ramachandran)   Contact Active Motif on Twitter Epigenetics Podcast on Twitter Active Motif on LinkedIn Active Motif on Facebook Email: podcast@activemotif.com

CUT&Tag and CUT&RUN: Redefining the Standards for Protein–DNA Mapping in Epigenetics: https://epigenetics-podcast.micro.blog/2025/07/30/cuttag-and-cutrun-redefining-the.html

Landmark

PEX39 facilitates the peroxisomal import of PTS2-containing proteins - Nature Cell Biology Chen et al. show that PEX39 cooperates with PEX7 in the peroxisomal import of proteins containing a PTS2 site and uncover an (R/K)PWE motif in PEX39 and PEX13 that binds to PEX7 and facilitates the im...

Our work on new paradigm in peroxisome biogenesis and PEX39 (1st human peroxisomal biogenesis protein (peroxin/PEX) found in > 20 yr) is out in @natcellbio.nature.com! Equal collab w/Tony Rodrigues (Jorge Azevedo lab), @dwendscheck.bsky.social (Bettina Warscheid lab)

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

HIF-independent oxygen sensing via KDM6A regulates ferroptosis Minikes et al. define an HIF-independent oxygen-sensing mechanism that regulates ferroptotic death through modulating the phospholipidome. When oxygen is limited, the histone demethylase KDM6A is inac...

HIF-independent oxygen sensing via KDM6A regulates ferroptosis: Molecular Cell www.cell.com/molecular-ce...

Debunked: Deepfakes of Brendan Gleeson, Luke O’Neill, and Sharon Tobin appear in hoax medicine ads The AI-generated celebs tout a miracle cure which they claim has been banned in Ireland.

This describes a scam video of me which seeks money. Please resend.

www.thejournal.ie/debunked-sca...

Distribution of the NCCN stages of #PancreaticCancer ?

16,412 pts (2017-2022) 🇳🇱
👉23% primary resectable
👉 8% borderline resectable
👉 11% locally advanced
👉 58% metastatic

⏩️ academic.oup.com/bjs/article/11…

S1PR1 in cells of lymphatic vessels regulates formation of vessel valves & abnormal lymph node-like structures called tertiary lymphoid organs

📷 Xin Geng et al @omrf.bsky.social in @jem.org

➡️ bpod.org.uk/archive/2025/7/8

Nutrients activate distinct patterns of small-intestinal enteric neurons - Nature Calcium imaging of the mouse jejunum shows that specific nutrients in the intestinal lumen are detected by epithelial cells, which activate specific sets of enteric neurons through a serotonin-mediate...

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

Nutrients activate distinct patterns of small-intestinal enteric neurons

Amazing short talk by #KonstantinosKolliopoulos at the 2025 iscam2025.org on how nutrient restriction decreases metastasis formation! @vib-ccb.bsky.social @vetenskapsradet.bsky.social

An unexpected career in cancer metabolism Nature Cancer - Ralph DeBerardinis obtained an MD and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, then trained in Pediatrics and Medical Genetics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He moved...

Thanks Nature Cancer for the chance to reflect on some factors that led me to study cancer metabolism. For the trainees and other young scientists: the critical events that shape your career might not be obvious while they are happening. Keep an open mind and trust your instincts.

rdcu.be/evi4I

The European Pancreatic Club 2025 meeting in #Dusseldorf 🇩🇪 was a big success. EPC is the only #European wide multidisciplinary meeting regarding only #Pancreas #Pancreatitis #PancreaticCancer

⏩️Excellent #RCTs discussed: #CASSANDRA, #DIPLOMA1, #DIPLOMA2, #PANDRA2, #ESPAC6, #ESPAC7, #SIMBA

Uridine Uridine is a pyrimidine nucleoside composed of an uracil base and a ribose sugar. In cells, uridine is predominantly present in RNA (as uridine monophosphate, UMP). Uridine can be produced through de ...

Uridine: Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism www.cell.com/trends/endoc...

a great not-to-miss piece from the @lyssiotislab.bsky.social

AKT-mediated phosphorylation of TSC2 controls stimulus- and tissue-specific mTORC1 signaling and organ growth Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) integrates diverse growth signals to regulate cell and tissue growth. How the molecular mech…

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

great work from @bdmanning.bsky.social

Now online in Cancer Discovery: Germline-Somatic Liaison Dictates Cancer Subtype via de novo Steroid Biosynthesis - by Paola Gasperini, Alessandro Alaimo, Blerta Stringa, Andrea Lunardi, Francesca Demichelis, and colleagues doi.org/10.1158/2159...

The Aging Microenvironment as a Determinant of Immune Exclusion and Metastatic Fate in Pancreatic Cancer Aging is a critical yet understudied determinant in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Despite a strong epidemiological association with age, conventional PDAC preclinical models fail to capture...

New preprint! 🧓⚡️ Aging drives immune exclusion & metastasis in PDAC by rewiring the tumor stroma. Young CAFs ♻️ rejuvenate the aged microenvironment & restore immune infiltration.
Read: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#PDAC #Aging #TumorMicroenvironment #Preprint

🧵5 Top Free Alternatives to BioRender for Scientific Illustrations!

These five websites offer free scientific illustrations for biologists. Great for presentations, research papers and other research communication needs.

Save and share the post!

Cellular and organismal function of choline metabolism - Nature Metabolism

REVIEW | Kıvanç Birsoy, Monther Abu-Remaileh and colleagues @rockefelleruniv.bsky.social, @stanford.edu

The authors provide a broad overview of choline metabolism, its cellular handling, and how it impacts physiology and pathology.

https://bit.ly/3WPCPM2

Metabolic engineering to facilitate anti-tumor immunity While high fructose intake has been implicated in the progression of metabolic disease and cancer, Schild et al. take advantage of the availability of fructose in the tumor microenvironment. Engineere...

Schild et al. take advantage of the availability of fructose in the tumor microenvironment. Engineered immune cells can use metabolic flexibility and leverage fructose as a nutrient source to fuel their metabolism and facilitate function in vivo. www.cell.com/cancer-cell/...

What are the prognostic factors in patients with resected #PDAC that receive NAT? 💊🏥

#PANCPALS published last week in Annals of Surgery!

Key: prognostic factors for OS differ between chemo-naive and NAT patients.
Find the prognostic tool on our website soon! 💪
@ammaraj.bsky.social

I'm co-organizing a Cell Symposia on Metabolites in Organellar Communication with @robzonculab.bsky.social, Kivanc Birsoy, and Allyson Evans (@cp-cellmetabolism.bsky.social). It will be in Sitges May 11-13. Submit an abstract by Feb 14. Hope to see you in Spain! cell-symposia.com/metabolites-...