KMT5A-mediated methylation of IRF3 promotes tumor progression through immune suppression
Pengcheng Li, Chengxin Yu, Runshi Xie, Changsheng Huang, Qi Wu, Anyi Liu, Xiaowei She, Mao Li, Zejun Rao, Lang Liu, Guihua Wang, Junbo Hu, Li Sun · 2026
Read KMT5A-mediated methylation of IRF3 promotes tumor progression through immune suppression by Pengcheng Li, Chengxin Yu, Runshi Xie, Changsheng Huang, Qi Wu, Anyi Liu, Xiaowei She, Mao Li, Zejun Rao, Lang Liu, Guihua Wang, Junbo Hu, Li Sun (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13392861.txt.
Description
Pengcheng Li and colleagues found a chemical off-switch that tumours use to mute IRF3, a protein that normally fires up antiviral-style defences against cancer. A single methyl tag placed on one building block of IRF3, at position 193, blocks the activation step the protein needs to trigger interferon release. Protein-mapping work fingered the enzyme KMT5A as the tag's writer.
In colorectal cancer, high levels of KMT5A went with weaker anti-tumour immunity in living models. With IRF3 tagged and quiet, production of type I interferons fell, letting tumours dodge immune attack and keep growing. The authors frame the tagged spot as a promising drug target: blocking KMT5A or protecting that site could release the brake and restore the tumour's own alarm signal. The work also adds methylation of a non-histone protein to the list of immune controls worth watching.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Pengcheng Li, Chengxin Yu, Runshi Xie, Changsheng Huang, Qi Wu, Anyi Liu, Xiaowei She, Mao Li, Zejun Rao, Lang Liu, Guihua Wang, Junbo Hu, Li Sun |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 74262 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |