Drugs that inhibit KRAS signaling delay the development of pancreatic cancer in mice.
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Glioblastoma Growth Mechanism Identified, Pointing to Potential Therapeutic Targets
Ruhi Polara, PhD, who led the research alongside Robinson, further commented, “Essentially, CD47 is shielding ROBO2, allowing it to accumulate and drive tumor progression. When we remove CD47, ROBO2 is degraded, and the cancer cells lose their ability to grow and invade effectively.”
The findings reveal a previously unknown molecular pathway—CD47–ITCH–ROBO2—that controls how glioblastoma cells behave. This opens up new possibilities for treatment strategies that go beyond current approaches. While therapies targeting CD47 are already being tested in clinical trials for other cancers, they have shown limited success in glioblastoma so far. The new research suggests that directly targeting the CD47–ROBO2 pathway, or disrupting the stabilisation of ROBO2, could be a more effective strategy. “In summary, our study reveals a role of CD47 in regulating cellular plasticity suggesting that targeting ROBO2 could offer a promising alternative therapeutic strategy for GBM,” they stated.
“By understanding this mechanism, we now have new targets to explore,” Polara said. “This could lead to the development of therapies that specifically block the tumor’s ability to spread, which is one of the biggest challenges in treating glioblastoma.”
New ultra-fast particle detector could help unmask dark matter
The CMS experiment at CERN is building a new detector that will unravel the chaotic particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, helping scientists identify particles based on their speeds.
What if Olympic officials could record sprinters’ times only to the nearest minute? “We would know who started the race, and who finished the race, but that’s it,” said Bryan Cardwell, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia. “There’s no way to know who arrived first and who arrived last.”
Cardwell and his colleagues on the CMS experiment are currently tackling a similar problem. The CMS experiment records the tracks and properties of subatomic particles created by the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. As it stands, physicists get a picture of all the particles produced in a collision, but they have insufficiently detailed information about when the particles were produced or how fast they were traveling, making it difficult to tell them apart.
Local gene editing of fibroblasts in tumors reveals a new cancer-associated fibroblast state
Nicholas F. Kuhn, Matthew F. Krummel et al. demonstrate how local gene editing of cancer-associated fibroblasts alters their cell state and, subsequently, the cellular tumor microenvironment.
CAFs are prominent members of the TME. Kuhn et al. demonstrate how local gene editing of CAFs alters their cell state and, subsequently, the cellular TME.
Distant galaxy fades 20-fold in just two decades, challenging how supermassive black holes evolve
An international team led by a researcher at the Chiba Institute of Technology has discovered an extremely rare phenomenon: a galaxy about 10 billion light-years away whose brightness dropped to one-twentieth of its original level in just 20 years. By combining multiwavelength observations with archival data spanning several decades, the researchers concluded that the fading was caused by a rapid decrease in the gas flowing into the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. The discovery shows that the activity of supermassive black holes can change dramatically on timescales short enough to be observed within a human lifetime.
Most galaxies host at their centers a supermassive black hole, with a mass hundreds of millions of times that of the sun. In some cases, surrounding gas is pulled inward by the black hole’s strong gravity. As the gas spirals toward the black hole, it forms a structure known as an accretion disk. Friction in the disk heats the gas to extremely high temperatures, producing enormous amounts of energy. As a result, the center of the galaxy shines very brightly (see left image below). Such luminous regions are known as active galactic nuclei (AGN).
However, if the flow of gas into the accretion disk weakens for some reason, the emitted radiation decreases and the galactic center becomes dimmer (see right image below). The new observations suggest that this galaxy has entered exactly such a phase—one in which the activity of its central black hole has rapidly declined.
Astronomers Spot Twin Planets Growing in Early Star System
“WISPIT 2 gives us a critical laboratory not just to observe the formation of a single planet but an entire planetary system,” said Dr. Christian Ginski. [ https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30349/astronomers-sp…r-system-2](https://www.labroots.com/trending/space/30349/astronomers-sp…r-system-2)
What can young planets in a far away star system teach astronomers about planetary formation and evolution? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters hopes to address as a team of scientists announced the discovery of two young planets orbiting a young star. This study has the potential to help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of planets, along with how solar systems like ours formed and evolved.
For the study, the researchers used the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Very Large Telescope (VLT) to confirm the existence of a second planet within the WISPIT 2 system, which is located approximately 440 light-years from Earth. The first planet, WISPIT 2b, was identified and confirmed in August 2025, and this new planet has been dubbed WISPIT 2c.
While both planets have been identified as gas giants, WISPIT 2b was confirmed to be approximately five times the mass of Jupiter and orbits at 60 astronomical units (AU) from its star and WISPIT 2c is estimated to be 15 AU from its star and is estimated to be twice the mass as WISPIT 2b. For context, Earth orbits 1 AU from our Sun while Jupiter and Saturn orbit 5.20 AU and 9.58 AU, respectively. Along with the two confirmed planets, the researchers have postulated that a third planet could exist in the system and is estimated to be approximately the mass of Saturn.
FAK inhibition in ovarian cancer releases omega-3 fatty acids to program CXCL13-producing anti-tumor resident peritoneal macrophages
FAK tyrosine kinase drives ovarian cancer tumor progression in part via effects on the tumor microenvironment. Chen et al. show that ovarian tumor FAK inhibition triggers release of omega-3 fatty acid-containing exosomes, impacting GATA6+ peritoneal macrophage anti-tumor reprogramming, CXCL13 cytokine production, and anti-TIGIT immunotherapy.
Monocytes Defined by Platelet Interactions and Oxidative Stress Signaling Underlie HIV‐Associated Atherosclerosis
This study reveals an atherosclerosis-associated signature in platelet-monocyte complexes from people living with HIV. @RuoqiaoW @ThakarLab @URochester_SMD
BackgroundMonocytes contribute to atherosclerosis by migrating into inflamed endothelium and differentiating into lipid‐laden macrophages. In people living with HIV, chronic inflammation increases atherosclerosis risk, yet the role of specific monocyte subsets remains unclear. We investigated how distinct monocyte populations contribute to vascular pathology in early HIV‐associated atherosclerosis.
Early Clinical and EEG Association of Genotype and Outcome in Genetic EpilepsiesA Cohort Study and Hierarchical Clustering Analysis
This study analyzed a large cohort of patients with genetic epilepsies using hierarchical clustering analysis to identify homogeneous subgroups defined by specific genetic causes, each showing distinct clinical and EEG patterns.
We included 277 patients (52.3% female; median age at last follow-up 8.1 years, range 0–40). Drug resistance occurred in 58.8% and severe DD/ID in 35.4% of patients. EEG data at onset were available for 107 individuals. Neonatal onset was associated with a higher rate of drug resistance (71.4%; odds ratio [OR] 2.0, 95% CI 1.05–3.77), movement disorders (60.7%; OR 3.7, 95% CI 2.02–6.82), and severe DD/ID (71.4%; OR 7.0, 95% CI 3.66–13.49). Slow EEG background activity and multifocal epileptiform discharges were associated with both drug resistance and severe DD/ID. HCA identified genotype-phenotype groupings, including clusters involving SCN1A, PRRT2, STXBP1, KCNQ2, SCN2A, CHD2, SYNGAP1, and MECP2, each linked to specific clinical and EEG features.