Blocking a cell channel slowed brain tumor cells in lab tests
Original title: Pannexin 1 inhibition reduces tumorigenic properties of patient-derived glioblastoma cells through the HIPPO and Wnt signalling pathways
How far along is this research?
This is a preprint. Other scientists have not checked it yet, so treat it as an early signal rather than an answer.
This was only done in cells in a dish and in animals, not in people.
The short version
Blocking a protein called PANX1 made 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 grow and move less in the lab.
What was studied. Researchers studied 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 taken from patients. They removed a protein called PANX1 from the cells, and also blocked it with drugs called probenecid and spironolactone.
What they found. The patient cells had more PANX1 than normal brain tissue and normal glial cells. Cells with PANX1 removed grew much less and moved much less. Both drugs also lowered the number of live cells and slowed movement, and in tumors grown in animals, probenecid lowered how many tumor cells stayed alive.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: PANX1 may be worth studying as a target for future 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 drugs. The two drugs used here are already known medicines, so they may be easier for researchers to test next. This is an early step in that work.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean there is a new treatment. The work was done in cells in a dish and in animals. No people were treated in this study, so we do not know if it is safe or helpful for patients. It is not a cure and it is not a promise of one. Work like this can take years, and many early results never lead to a treatment.
Source: bioRxiv (preprint), September 7, 2026 · Read the original
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