Publication by the Morscher Lab & collaborators, including the Leidel lab w/ 1st author Sarah Cherkaoui "Reprogramming neuroblastoma by diet-enhanced polyamine depletion" @nature.com
NCCR News:
nccr-rna-and-disease.ch/news/article...
@cherkaos.bsky.social
@mcm5s2u.bsky.social
@unibe.ch
@snsf.ch
➡️ What’s next?
Excited to share that this will likely be taken to the clinics as an early phase trial. Stay tuned!
🙏 Immense gratitude to my mentor Raphael J. Morscher, the Morscher at Kispi and our amazing collaborators at
@childrensphila.bsky.social, @princeton.edu
@ludwigcancer.bsky.social
& beyond.
This was true teamwork
🐭 In mice, this drug–diet combo dramatically extended survival.
It shows how targeting metabolic vulnerabilities can open new therapeutic paths — especially in pediatric oncology, where safer, effective options are urgently needed.
The DFMO + diet combo caused:
Deep polyamine depletion
Protein translation stalling
Induction of a pro-differentiation proteome ➡️ pushing cancer cells toward a more normal state
🥗 In our study, we found that diet can boost DFMO’s power.
By removing arginine & proline (amino acids tumors use to make polyamines) from the diet, we cut off the cancer’s food supply.
👶 Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancers.
These tumors rely on polyamines — small molecules essential for growth.
💊 DFMO, a drug that blocks polyamine synthesis, was just FDA-approved.
But cancer cells are resourceful… they find ways to keep polyamine levels high.
🚨 Excited to share our new paper is out in Nature!
🔗 Reprogramming neuroblastoma by diet-enhanced polyamine depletion
Mouse studies show that depriving neuroblastoma of certain amino acids causes a switch in protein synthesis to suppress tumour growth and promote cell differentiation
go.nature.com/46nMxKQ
