Researchers Reveal How Skin Cells Form a First Line of Defense Against Skin Cancer; RNA-Binding Protein (CSDE1) Is Key

A study published online on January 11, 2022 in Cell Reports reveals important insights into the molecular mechanisms that underpin the body’s natural defenses against the development of skin cancer. The findings offer new clues into the behavior of skin cancer at the cellular level, paving the way for potential new therapeutic targets to treat the disease. The open access article is titled “Coordinated Post-Transcriptional Control of Oncogene-Induced Senescence by UNR/CSDE1.” “We found that the protein CSDE1 coordinates a complex chain of events that enable senescence in skin cells, significantly slowing down their function without causing death,” says Rosario Avolio, PhD, first author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) at the time of submission. “The resulting cells act as a firewall against cancer, suppressing the formation of tumors.”