G-Quadruplexes as Potential Therapeutic Targets for Embryonal Tumors

Molecules

Tarek Shalaby¹  Giulio Fiaschetti¹  Kazuo Nagasawa²  Kazuo Shin-ya³  Martin Baumgartner¹ 

[1] Division of Oncology, University Children’s Hospital of Zurich, Zurich 8032, Switzerland;Department of Biotechnology and Life Science, Faculty of Technology, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan;National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo 135-0064, Japan

关键词: embryonal tumors;    G-quadruplexes;    MYC;    telomeres;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules181012500

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Embryonal tumors include a heterogeneous group of highly malignant neoplasms that primarily affect infants and children and are characterized by a high rate of mortality and treatment-related morbidity, hence improved therapies are clearly needed. G-quadruplexes are special secondary structures adopted in guanine (G)-rich DNA sequences that are often present in biologically important regions, e.g. at the end of telomeres and in the regulatory regions of oncogenes such as MYC. Owing to the significant roles that both telomeres and MYC play in cancer cell biology, G-quadruplexes have been viewed as emerging therapeutic targets in oncology and as tools for novel anticancer drug design. Several compounds that target these structures have shown promising anticancer activity in tumor xenograft models and some of them have entered Phase II clinical trials. In this review we examine approaches to DNA targeted cancer therapy, summarize the recent developments of G-quadruplex ligands as anticancer drugs and speculate on the future direction of such structures as a potential novel therapeutic strategy for embryonal tumors of the nervous system.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.