Stress granules in liver cancer

... what are the knowns and unknowns ?

Hepatocellular carcinoma, a very common liver cancer linked to the presence of fat in the liver, is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. As it is one of the least curable cancers, there is an urgent need for new therapeutic options.

Could stress granules play a role in hepatocellular carcinoma ?

The lack of therapeutic options to treat hepatocellular carcinoma led researchers from Prof. Michelangelo Foti’s laboratory to review the role of protein and RNA aggregates that form when cells are exposed to stress, the so-called stress granules. Indeed, as their formation and stability appear to be associated with the development of many cancers, they could play a determining role in the development of liver cancer.

Interested to learn more ?

To find out what is known and unknown about the role of stress granules in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and the potential therapeutic avenues they may open, download their review published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Stress granules (in red) are observed in hepatic Huh7 cancer cells after stress exposure. © adapted from Figure 2 in Dolicka et al. 2021

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