Osmotic controlling defection provides a new avenue for malignancy therapy

Increased water content is a universal feature of various malignancies. However, the responsible mechanism remains elusive and whether it can be employed for broad-spectrum treatment of malignancies is unclear. Here, we detected that osmotic controlling genes were essential for the water content in mammalian cells and osmotic controlling defection (OCD) were responsible for the increased water content in various malignancies. OCD led to human various malignant cells much more fragile than their corresponding paracancerous normal tissues under hypotonic stress. We found that various human malignancies can be selectively killed by targeting osmotic controlling molecules. Therefore, ORD may be a promising target for broad-spectrum treatment of various malignancies.