A Neuroscience IBPS team led by Marie-Pierre Junier and Hervé Chneiweiss¹ just showed on malignant glioma models that the accumulation of a metabolic by-product of GABA, one of the major neurotransmitters in the central nervous system, modifies the formation of epigenetics marks that control gene expression. This results in an orientation of cancer cells towards a more differentiated and less proliferative state. This newly uncovered link indicates that metabolism may have a driving role in the genesis of intra-tumoral heterogeneity. This work² has been published online on the INSB (CNRS) website (in French).

1. Team Glial Plasticity

2. A driver role for GABA metabolism in controlling stem and proliferative cell state through GHB production in glioma, El-Habr et al.