Mitochondria are essential for cellular energy production and homeostasis, and their selective degradation through mitophagy is critical for maintaining cell function. However, the molecular mechanisms governing this process remain incompletely understood.

Now, Laura Trachsel-Moncho and co-workers in Anne Simonsen’s group identify the endosomal protein SNX10 as a modulator of piecemeal mitophagy, a process involving the selective degradation of mitochondrial components. They show that SNX10 localizes to early endosomes in normal conditions but associates with mitochondria-containing endosomal structures under hypoxia-mimicking stress. Loss of SNX10 leads to increased turnover of specific mitochondrial proteins, reduced mitochondrial respiration, and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Furthermore, zebrafish larvae lacking Snx10 exhibit reduced COX-IV levels and increased oxidative stress and cell death, demonstrating the physiological relevance of Snx10 in mitochondrial homeostasis.

These findings uncover an unexpected role for SNX10 in mitochondrial quality control and highlight its importance in cellular adaptation to metabolic stress.

Mev Dominquez-Valentin from the Department of Tumor Biology at the Institute for Cancer Research is senior author on a study recently published in the prestigious journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, entitled: "Characterization of Screening Strategies for Lynch Syndrome in Latin America.” The study involves the collaborations of more than 50 investigators from 24 representative genetic cancer registries/center of 8 countries from Latin America, highlighting the significant insights we've gained into Lynch Syndrome (LS) screening methods across the region. The results emphasize challenges in hereditary cancer syndrome screening in Latin America and the need for enhanced strategies. Other OUS researchers involved in the study are Eivind Hovig, Pål Møller and Vessela Kristensen.

The European doctoral network Mac4Me (Macrophage Targets for Metastatic Treatment) is a 48-month project that addresses both technical and social challenges in cancer metastasis, focusing on three tumour types that show poor response to current immunotherapies: neuroblastoma, breast, and prostate cancer. Mac4Me is a Horizon Europe MSCA (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) Doctoral Network. The network will train 18 Doctoral Candidates to study the tumour microenvironment at metastatic sites. The project is led by a consortium of 14 partners, that includes Oslo University Hospital.
Tero Aittokallio, leader of the Computational Systems Medicine research group at the Institute for Cancer Research, is one of the supervisors, who were selected for their exceptional academic qualifications. The doctoral researcher at OUS will apply multi-modal AI algorithms to define new targets for improved immunotherapy.

Drug resistance remains a major challenge in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). A study led by Martina Seiffert (German Cancer Research Center) in collaboration with Sigrid S. Skånland (Institute for Cancer Research) suggests that alterations in the proteasome activity drive resistance to the BTK inhibitor ibrutinib, and that proteasome inhibitors are effective in ibrutinib resistant or refractory CLL.

Treatment with ibrutinib can induce remissions for several years, yet development of drug resistance represents a major challenge. Mutations in BTK and the downstream protein PLCG2 are commonly detected in resistant disease, while mechanisms of resistance that are not explained by these mutations have not yet been understood. 

Anette Weyergang – project group leader at Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), Oslo University Hospital - is on December 11^th awarded the prize Researcher-of-the-Year from the leadership at ICR for her groundbreaking scientific contributions. The award of 100,000 NOK is financed by the Radium Hospital Foundation (Radiumhospitalets legater) and is a personal scholarship for stimulating further excellence in research. 

The leadership group highlights the important work Weyergang has done to characterize the role of Rab proteins in the intracellular transport of antibody-drug conjugates such as for example trastuzumab-derukstekan (Enhertu®). This work has been published in Nature Communication and led to the establishment of Rab Diagnostics AS.