STING safeguards epithelial genome integrity and protects from carcinogenesis via mitotic checkpoint control

The cGAS-STING pathway is widely recognized as a central mediator of innate immune responses to cytosolic DNA. However, whether cGAS-STING directly coordinates DNA damage response in non-immune cells and thereby contributes to cell-intrinsic prevention of oncogenesis is not known.

The present work uncovers a novel role and identifies STING as an epithelial, interferon-independent genome-integrity checkpoint that couples DNA damage signaling to cell-cycle control, thereby restraining chromosomal instability, tumor evolution, and providing a therapeutically exploitable vulnerability in cancer therapy.