The anti-malarial drug atovaquone potentiates platinum-mediated cancer cell death by increasing oxidative stress.

Platinum chemotherapies are highly effective cytotoxic agents but often induce resistance when used as monotherapies. Combinatorial strategies limit this risk and provide effective treatment options for many cancers. Here, we repurpose atovaquone (ATQ), a well-tolerated & FDA-approved anti-malarial agent by demonstrating that it potentiates cancer cell death of a subset of platinums.

Metalloprotease SPRTN/DVC1 Orchestrates Replication-Coupled DNA-Protein Crosslink Repair.

The cytotoxicity of DNA-protein crosslinks (DPCs) is largely ascribed to their ability to block the progression of DNA replication. DPCs frequently occur in cells, either as a consequence of metabolism or exogenous agents, but the mechanism of DPC repair is not completely understood. Here, we characterize SPRTN as a specialized DNA-dependent and DNA replication-coupled metalloprotease for DPC repair.