Mutant RAS-driven cancers are infamously resistant to chemotherapeutics. Reporting in Cell, Grabocka and Bar-Sagi (2016) demonstrate that when subjected to stress, mutant KRAS-dependent lipid production leads to upregulated stress granule formation. This confers not only cell-autonomous cytoprotection but also paracrine establishment of a stress-resistant tumor niche.
Mutant RAS Calms Stressed-Out Cancer Cells.
Bryant KL, Der CJ.
Dev Cell. 2017 Jan 23;40(2):120-122. doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2017.01.005.
PMID: 28118599