Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41315668›Full record

ArticleOncogene2026

The novel endogenous micropeptide XLH-36 binds Gemin4 to promote triple-negative breast cancer metastasis.

Mengwei Li, Wenwei Xie, Kexin Hu, Tiantian Li, Xin Li, Li Shun, Xiaowei Xu, Junhui Chen, Hanmei Xu

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Oncogene, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

9 authors.

Mengwei Li *Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Wenwei Xie *Jiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Kexin HuJiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Tiantian LiJiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Xin LiJiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Li ShunKey Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3787-4281
Xiaowei XuJiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Junhui ChenDepartment of Minimally Invasive Intervention, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
Hanmei XuJiangsu Province Engineering Research Center of Synthetic Peptide Drug Discovery and Evaluation, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China. xuhanmei6688@126.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most malignant breast cancer subtype. The 5-year overall survival rate of TNBC patients is 77%, but once cancer metastasis occurs, this rate drops to 12%. To date, the discovery of biomarkers associated with TNBC metastasis remains a major challenge. In this study, we identified a novel translated product, XLH-36 micropeptide, encoded by lncRNA (long non-coding RNA) C5orf66-AS1, which acts as an "oncogenic driver" in TNBC. Through conservation analyses across 101 species, we found that XLH-36 is highly conserved in humans and primates. Analysis of RNA-seq data from 1295 breast cancer patients, including 165 TNBC patients from different cohorts, revealed significantly elevated XLH-36 expression levels in breast cancer and TNBC. Specifically, TNBC patients with low C5orf66-AS1 (encoding XLH-36) expression demonstrated a 20% higher overall survival rate compared to those with high C5orf66-AS1 expression over a 50-month follow-up. XLH-36 knockout inhibited the growth and metastasis of TNBC xenografts in mice. Furthermore, we found that XLH-36 directly binds Gemin4, causing it to remain in the cytoplasm and preventing it from carrying out its role in promoting S100A4 mRNA splicing in the nucleus. This leads to a compensatory increase in ICAM1 levels, ultimately resulting in the promotion of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in TNBC cells and an increase in tumor metastasis. In summary, our findings highlight the crucial role of XLH-36 in TNBC metastasis, which could be exploited in the development of therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for TNBC patients.

Indexed as

RNA, Long NoncodingSMN Complex ProteinsTriple Negative Breast NeoplasmsAnimalsBiomarkers, TumorCell Line, TumorCell ProliferationEpithelial-Mesenchymal TransitionFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMiceNeoplasm MetastasisBiomarkers, TumorRNA, Long NoncodingSMN Complex Proteins

Identifiers

PMID41315668
PMCPMC12738293

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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.