How skin cells form a natural defense against cancer

Dividing keratinocytes surrounded by aged keratinocytes

A new study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that coordinate skin cell aging

"We found that the protein CSDE1 orchestrates a complex chain of events to age skin cells," said first author of the study, Rosario Avolio, a postdoctoral researcher at CRG, in presentation of the study.

The researchers, led by Fátima Gebauer of the Center for Genome Regulation (CRG), carried out the study by collecting keratinocytes, the most abundant skin cell type in the epidermis, from mice

In their experiments, the team introduced genes that cause cancer to form, thereby inducing cells to enter a state of senescence

Further experiments showed that when cells lacking csde1 were implanted under the skin of mice, they began to form malignant tumors

The researchers found that CSDE1 promotes tumor suppression through two distinct mechanisms

According to the authors, the study's results were surprising because CSDE1 was previously thought to be involved in cancer formation, rather than suppressing it

"CSDE1 is very much the 'Dr.

CSDE1, an RNA-binding protein, is a protein that monitors RNA, often after it is made, with the potential to significantly change its function

The study is one of a handful to investigate the role of RNA-binding proteins in establishing cellular senescence, an important new frontier in cancer research

Reference: "Coordinated post-transcriptional control of oncogene-induced senescence by UNR/CSDE1" 11 January 2022, Cell Reports .