“Spop” Protein Identified as Key to Fighting Aggressive Blood cancer, Viennese Researchers Report
vienna, Austria – November 28, 2025 – Researchers in vienna have identified a protein, dubbed “Spop,” that plays a critical role in eliminating cancer-promoting proteins linked to acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a notably aggressive form of blood cancer.The finding,published today in Cell Reports,offers a promising new avenue for therapeutic development.
AML often arises from the creation of chimeric proteins – hybrid structures formed when parts of genes fuse together. In manny cases,this involves the NUP98 protein,normally responsible for cellular transport,combining with growth factors. These resulting chimeric proteins cause an overproduction of immature blood cells, crowding out healthy cells and leading to reduced oxygen supply, weakened immune defenses, and impaired blood clotting.
The research team, led by Florian Grebien of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research (CCRI), and the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), found that Spop functions by tagging these harmful NUP98 chimeras with ubiquitin, essentially marking them for destruction by the cell’s natural waste disposal system, the proteasome.
“NUP98 chimeras are more common in cells without Spop,” the researchers noted in their publication, indicating the protein’s constant protective role in healthy cells. To further enhance spop’s effectiveness, the team developed a synthetic molecule, a “PROTAC,” to guide Spop directly to the chimeric proteins, triggering their destruction and ultimately inducing cancer cell self-destruction (apoptosis).
“Now we can start developing therapies with such PROTACs,” the team stated in a press release. This breakthrough offers a potential new strategy for treating AML and improving outcomes for patients battling this challenging disease.
