A gene called PIMREG helps brain tumor cells repair DNA damage
Original title: Loss of PIMREG impairs double-strand break signaling and repair.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done on cells in a lab, not in people. It is a very early step.
This was lab work on cells, not something a patient can get.
The short version
Lab work found a gene that may help glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells survive treatment.
What was studied. Researchers worked with glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary cells in the lab and looked at a gene called PIMREG. They also checked tumor samples from patients for high levels of this gene.
What they found. PIMREG levels are high in glioblastoma: A glioma that is given grade 4, the highest grade. It grows fast. Treatment usually starts soon after it is found. It often means surgery, then radiation and chemotherapy. See the glossary. When the team shut PIMREG off, the cells had a harder time fixing breaks in their DNA. PIMREG also teamed up with key DNA repair proteins after the cells were given temozolomide: A chemotherapy taken as a capsule, used for some brain tumors. Your team checks your blood counts while you are on it. See the glossary.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Radiation and temozolomide: A chemotherapy taken as a capsule, used for some brain tumors. Your team checks your blood counts while you are on it. See the glossary work by damaging the DNA in tumor cells. This gene seems to help those cells repair the damage. So blocking the gene might make those treatments work better. That idea has not been tested in people yet.
What it doesn't mean: This is early lab work on cells in a dish. No person was treated here, and there is no drug for this gene that a patient can get. It is not a cure, and it does not change anyone's care today. Years of more testing would be needed first.
Source: PubMed, September 29, 2026 · Read the original
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