{
  "id": 18107843,
  "title": "Glioblastoma model mouse rescue from mortality by brain-targeted catalytically-enhanced angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 mutant-antibody fusion protein",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/04/glioblastoma-model-mouse-rescue-from-mortality-by-brain-targeted",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-04T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.03.763994v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A groundbreaking discovery has emerged in the realm of cancer treatment, as an engineered fusion protein targeting the brain's ACE2 receptors has demonstrated remarkable potential in extending the lives of mice suffering from glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a notoriously aggressive form of brain cancer. This novel approach, known as ACE2dm-s1, combines forces with a small molecule STING agonist, a cancer therapeutic designed to stimulate the immune system against tumors.\n\nRemarkably, when ACE2dm-s1 is administered alongside the STING agonist, the survival rates of CT-2A xenograft GBM model mice show significant improvement, a result that starkly contrasts with previous attempts to use losartan, an angiotensin receptor antagonist that targets the same Renin-Angiotensin System (RAS) affected by ACE2dm-s1. Despite losartan's potential in other contexts, it failed to provide any survival benefit when incorporated into combination therapy with ACE2dm-s1 or STING agonist alone.\n\nThe double whammy of ACE2dm-s1 and STING agonist therapy goes beyond mere survival extension, as flow cytometry studies revealed an intriguing shift in brain immune cell populations towards an anti-tumoral composition. This observation, backed by the enhanced survival rates, positions ACE2dm-s1 as a promising tumor microenvironment (TME) modulator. Such a role could augment the efficacy of an array of cancer treatment modalities, from traditional chemotherapies to immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapies.",
  "summary": "We have discovered that an engineered angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-brain-targeted antibody fusion protein, referred to as ACE2dm-s1, improves survival of CT-2A xenograft glioblastoma (GBM) model mice when administered in combination with a small molecule STING agonist cancer therapeutic. Particularly striking about these survival results is that prior efforts that used losartan, a small…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}