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paper 11 January 2024
Publication: pan-cancer ion transport signature in glioblastoma
Alec Bahcheli and Jüri Reimand led a collaborative study with Nick Min and Xi Huang at SickKids that systematically studied ion transport genes in cancer and highlighted the aberrant upregulation of the ion permeome (IP) as a pan-cancer feature. IP genes remain understudied in cancer, yet they encode numerous drug targets for other diseases. Using machine learning, the team identified more than 400 clinically relevant IP genes in over 30 cancer types, and then focused on two candidates in glioblastoma, showing that GJB2 and SCN9A influence proliferation and invasion and regulate the formation of tunnelling nanotubes, which facilitate cell-cell communication and cancer aggression.