Author Archives: 瑶 翟

From April to May 2026, global biopharma dealmaking rebounded, with major pharma focusing on de-risked assets and growing interest in platform technologies such as ADCs, TCEs, and multispecific antibodies. Meanwhile, Chinese biotech accelerated global expansion, oncology shifted toward “platform technology + multi-mechanism combinations,” and AI drug discovery moved closer to real-world industrial adoption.

With updated Phase III clinical data released by Roche in 2025, trontinemab has emerged as a leading example of TfR1-mediated blood–brain barrier delivery, achieving high amyloid clearance with low ARIA-E incidence in Alzheimer’s disease patients. By exploiting TfR1-dependent transcytosis, this bispecific antibody highlights TfR1/CD71 not only as a central regulator of iron metabolism, but also as a highly promising gateway for CNS therapeutic delivery.

Site-specific protein ligation is increasingly critical in applications such as protein labeling, antibody conjugation, and multifunctional fusion protein construction. Sortase A (SrtA), a transpeptidase from Gram-positive bacteria, is widely used for its LPXTG motif recognition and efficient ligation with oligoglycine substrates, with engineered variants further improving catalytic efficiency and control.

SLC7A11 (xCT), the functional subunit of the cystine/glutamate antiporter System xc⁻, plays a central role in tumor redox balance by mediating cystine uptake for glutathione (GSH) synthesis, thereby protecting cancer cells from oxidative stress and ferroptosis. Recent studies published in *Cell* and *Nature* in 2025 further revealed that SLC7A11 can also trigger disulfidptosis under specific metabolic conditions, highlighting a context-dependent vulnerability in cancer cells. These findings position SLC7A11 at the intersection of ferroptosis, metabolic stress, and emerging cell death pathways, making it a promising therapeutic target. This article summarizes the structural features of SLC7A11, its regulatory role in ferroptosis, and recent advances in related therapeutic strategies.