Glioblastoma is the most common and severe primary brain tumor, with aggressive dissemination of tumor cells. Elias El-Habr, Marie-Pierre Junier (NPS) and their collaborators have developed a strategy of computational analyzes from transcriptomes of single cells of patient tumors in order to identify the metabolic vulnerabilities of cells with high migration potential. The modeling revealed a high mitochondrial load associated with increased oxidative stress, and suggested a major role of a cysteine ??metabolism enzyme, 3-Mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST).

Functional experiments on cells and tissue organoids from patients, as well as genetic and pharmacological manipulations, have confirmed the role of MPST. These results complement the work of the team, which focuses on the metabolic vulnerabilities associated with the phenotypes allowing the growth of these aggressive tumors, which currently have no therapeutic solution.

_{Saurty-Seerunghen, M. S., Daubon, T., Bellenger, L., Delaunay, V., Castro, G., Guyon, J., Rezk, A., Fabrega, S., Idbaih, A., Almairac, F., Burel-Vandenbos, F., Turchi, L., Duplus, E., Virolle, T., Peyrin, J.-M., Antoniewski, C., Chneiweiss, H., El-Habr, E. A., & Junier, M.-P. (2022). Glioblastoma cell motility depends on enhanced oxidative stress coupled with mobilization of a sulfurtransferase. Cell Death & Disease, 13(10), Art. 10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-022-05358-8}