Reductive death is averted by an ancient metabolic switch.
Fasih M. Ahsan, Jen F. Rotti, Armen I. Yerevanian, Sinclair W. Emans, Nicole L. Stuhr, Jose A. Aceves-Salvador, Wei Wang, Daniel J. Baker, Dimitra Pouli, Owen S. Skinner, Michael D. Blower, Alexander A. Soukas
The paper identifies reductive stress as a toxicity of biguanides like metformin, showing that fatty acid biosynthesis protects against this effect and could be targeted in cancer.
bioRxiv · Nov 24, 2025 · PreprintMolecular Biology