KAIST suppresses side effects of mRNA therapeutics, broadly applicable platform for safer, personalized treatments
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 16-Dec-2025 11:12 ET (16-Dec-2025 16:12 GMT/UTC)
Cells stop dividing when telomeres become too short to protect chromosomes, a process known as replicative senescence. But what drives it, and why cells senesce far earlier under high-oxygen conditions than under low-oxygen conditions, was not fully understood. The study shows that replicative senescence is enforced solely by the ATM kinase, and that high oxygen generates a hyperactive form of ATM that forces cells to arrest earlier. In low oxygen states, ATM’s less active form tolerates shorter telomeres. Because most tumors experience low oxygen levels, their reduced ATM response could allow cancer cells to tolerate very short telomeres, raising the possibility that reactivating ATM could stop tumor growth.
An international research team led by RMIT University have created tiny particles, known as nanodots, made from a metallic compound that can kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells largely unharmed.
While this work is still at the cell-culture stage – it hasn’t been tested in animals or people – it points to a new strategy for designing cancer treatments that exploit cancer’s own weaknesses.
- Follicular Lymphoma (FL) is one of the most common types of blood cancer, accounting for 20–25% of all non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL). Each year, approximately 15,000 new cases are diagnosed in the United States and 2,000 in Spain.
- Despite the disease’s biological diversity, most patients still receive similar treatment approaches, and relapse remains common.
- A new global alliance, led by Dr. Ari Melnick, Director of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, will unite leading research teams from the United States and Spain to develop innovative diagnostic tools and treatment strategies for patients with FL.
- This international initiative is supported by Blood Cancer United®—formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society—and the Institute for Follicular Lymphoma Innovation (IFLI) through the Research Accelerator for Follicular Lymphoma (RAFL) Synergistic Team Award (STA).