The immune cells trained to fight off the body's invaders can become defective. It's what allows cancer to develop. So most cancer immunotherapy research has targeted these so-called effector T cells.

But a new study steps back and considers: What if the problem isn't with the effector T cells, but starts higher up the cellular chain?

查看原文：https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/how-poorly-explored-immune-cell-may-impact-cancer-immunity-and-immunotherapy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains a major global health challenge, necessitating novel therapeutic approaches. β-carboline alkaloids, natural compounds with anticancer properties, have shown potential to inhibit cancer cell viability. Here, we synthesized β-carboline derivatives and explored their potential as CRC inhibitors. 

Z-7 was identified as the leading candidate due to its ability to induce apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in CRC cells. Transcriptomic and proteomic data revealed that Z-7 activated the p53 signaling pathway in p53 wild-type CRC by binding to MDM2 at the RING domain, and inhibiting the E3 ligase activity of MDM2, leading to the reduction of p53 ubiquitination. In vivo study showed Z-7 treatment elevated p53 expression and significantly suppressed tumor growth in xenograft models.

查看原文：https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13402-025-01111-3