Researchers revealed how zinc levels control the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), the cell’s primary protein factory, and how it fundamentally regulates cellular proteostasis. Using fluorescent probes, they found that the transporter ZIP7 keeps zinc levels in the ER low. When ZIP7 is disrupted, zinc level surges, inhibiting the enzyme Ero1 and disrupting the cell’s redox balance. This prevents proteins from folding correctly, leading to an array of pathologies including cancer.

Shi Yuankai’s team’s review on EGFR-TKIs for NSCLC (2000–2026) came out in the Chinese Medical Journal. Lung cancer leads in global cancer incidence/mortality, with NSCLC as the main subtype and EGFR a key driver. EGFR-TKIs are core for advanced EGFR-mutant NSCLC, with expanded clinical applications and prolonged patient survival. Yet EGFR-TKI resistance is a big challenge; the review summarizes its 2000–2025 development and future directions.

The finding explains how the absence of a key protein in the structure of bile ducts promotes the onset of fibrosis. 

If bile ducts let bile acids leak through, these will cause damage that liver tissue repairs by producing scars. The accumulation of these scars leads to fibrosis.

For the study’s authors, "this finding allows research to be steered towards safer therapies targeting liver fibrosis."

The paper is published in Nature Metabolism.

A study published in Science Bulletin identifies tRF-Glu-TTC-013, a tRNA-derived fragment, as a key driver of colorectal cancer liver metastasis. The researchers found that the molecule promotes tumour progression by enhancing glutamate metabolic reprogramming through a newly defined CREB3L1–AMDHD1 pathway.

Cancer treatment and other delicate medical procedures could one day be carried out using tiny microrobots guided precisely inside the body after scientists developed a new magnetic tool to control them.