Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39774694›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Defining ortholog-specific UHRF1 inhibition by STELLA for cancer therapy.

Wenjing Bai, Jinxin Xu, Wenbin Gu, Danyang Wang, Ying Cui, Weidong Rong, Xiaoan Du, Xiaoxia Li, Cuicui Xia, Qingqing Gan and 12 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
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  5. Structure-guided design of 7-azaindole DNMT1 inhibitors active against hypomethylating agent-resistant acute myeloid leukemia.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Wenjing Bai *Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Jinxin Xu *State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1680-7533
Wenbin Gu *Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Danyang Wang *Institute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Ying Cui *The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Weidong RongGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Xiaoan DuState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Xiaoxia LiInstitute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Cuicui XiaGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Qingqing GanState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Guantao HeInstitute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3347-6588
Huahui GuoGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Jinfeng DengInstitute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Yuqiong WuInstitute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
Ray-Whay Chiu YenThe Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Srinivasan YegnasubramanianThe Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0744-6606
Scott B RothbartDepartment of Epigenetics, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1631-5392
Cheng LuoState Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201203, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3864-8382
Linping WuInstitute of Drug Discovery, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7579-2987
Jinsong LiuState Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China. liu_jinsong@gibh.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2317-0558
Stephen B BaylinThe Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA. sbaylin@jhmi.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3697-3798
Xiangqian KongGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China. kong_xiangqian@gibh.ac.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-1670-8929

Funding

DNA Methyltrasferase Gene Expression in Colon CancerR01ES011858 · NIEHS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI BAYLIN, STEPHEN B., EASWARAN, HARIHARAN · 2002 to 2023
$11.5M
Mechanisms of DNA methylation signaling and dysregulation in colon cancerR01CA283463 · NCI · VAN ANDEL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · PI Scott Rothbart · 2024 to 2026
$3.2M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA283463NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES011858U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R01ES011858
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

UHRF1 maintains DNA methylation by recruiting DNA methyltransferases to chromatin. In mouse, these dynamics are potently antagonized by a natural UHRF1 inhibitory protein STELLA, while the comparable effects of its human ortholog are insufficiently characterized, especially in cancer cells. Herein, we demonstrate that human STELLA (hSTELLA) is inadequate, while mouse STELLA (mSTELLA) is fully proficient in inhibiting the abnormal DNA methylation and oncogenic functions of UHRF1 in human cancer cells. Structural studies reveal a region of low sequence homology between these STELLA orthologs that allows mSTELLA but not hSTELLA to bind tightly and cooperatively to the essential histone-binding, linked tandem Tudor domain and plant homeodomain (TTD-PHD) of UHRF1, thus mediating ortholog-specific UHRF1 inhibition. For translating these findings to cancer therapy, we use a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated mRNA delivery approach in which the short mSTELLA, but not hSTELLA regions are required to reverse cancer-specific DNA hypermethylation and impair colorectal cancer tumorigenicity.

Indexed as

CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding ProteinsDNA MethylationUbiquitin-Protein LigasesAnimalsCell Line, TumorHumansMiceNeoplasmsProtein BindingCCAAT-Enhancer-Binding ProteinsUbiquitin-Protein LigasesUHRF1 protein, humanUhrf1 protein, mouse

Identifiers

PMID39774694
PMCPMC11707192

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.