A protein that may help brain tumors resist chemotherapy
Original title: DPP9 modulates RPA1 stability and temozolomide sensitivity through RFWD3 Nuclear localization in glioma.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done in animals, not people. Most findings at this stage never become treatments.
This was only done in lab cells and in mice.
The short version
Lowering a protein called DPP9 made glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells. Those are the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are given a grade from 1 to 4. The grade says how the tumor is expected to act. See the glossary cells easier to kill with the drug 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 was studied. Researchers studied glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells. Those are the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are given a grade from 1 to 4. The grade says how the tumor is expected to act. See the glossary tumor samples and gene data. They also raised and lowered the DPP9 gene in glioma cells and in tumors grown in mice.
What they found. Tumor samples with more DPP9 came from people who lived a shorter time. Lowering DPP9 slowed tumor growth in cells and in mice. It also made 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 better on those cells and tumors.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: This points to a possible new way to help 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 better. Tumor cells use DNA repair to survive the drug, and DPP9 seems to support that repair. If DPP9 can be blocked safely, it might one day help people whose tumors stop responding.
What it doesn't mean: This is not a treatment anyone can get today. The work was done in lab cells and in mice, not in people. No DPP9 drug was tested in patients in this study. It is early science, far from everyday care, and it is not a promise of a cure.
Source: PubMed, September 5, 2026 · Read the original
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