Metabolic Enzyme PHGDH Found to Play a Surprising Role in Breast Cancer Immunity

Metabolic enzyme PHGDH found to play a surprising role in breast cancer immunity

Macrophages are immune cells with a split personality: some fight tumors, while others help them grow. In breast cancer, most macrophages fall into the latter camp—dubbed M2-like—fueling tumor progression and dampening immune responses.

From Metabolism to Immunity: A Hidden Switch in Breast Cancer Uncovered

In a surprising twist on cellular metabolism, scientists have uncovered a noncanonical role of the metabolic enzymePHGDH in shaping immune responses within breast cancer microenvironment. Acting from within the cell nucleus, PHGDH suppresses the activity of two critical genes--GLUD1 and GLS2--that drive glutamine metabolism, a pathway vital to immune cell function.

Peripheral blood gene expression signatures of systemic immunity predict tumor microenvironment biology and therapeutic response in breast cancer

This study investigates the association between peripheral blood immunological features and immunotherapy response in breast cancer. We generated and analyzed RNAseq data from 546 blood samples of patients with high-risk stage II/III HER2-negative breast cancer enrolled in the I-SPY2 trial and...