Correction: Correction: CDK1 Is a Synthetic Lethal Target for KRAS Mutant Tumours.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Correction: CDK1 Is a Synthetic Lethal Target for KRAS Mutant Tumours.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

CDK1 Is a Synthetic Lethal Target for KRAS Mutant Tumours.

Activating KRAS mutations are found in approximately 20% of human cancers but no RAS-directed therapies are currently available. Here we describe a novel, robust, KRAS synthetic lethal interaction with the cyclin dependent kinase, CDK1. This was discovered using parallel siRNA screens in KRAS mutant and wild type colorectal isogenic tumour cells and subsequently validated in a genetically diverse panel of 26 colorectal and pancreatic tumour cell models.

Tankyrase-targeted therapeutics: expanding opportunities in the PARP family.

The poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) protein superfamily has wide-ranging roles in cellular processes such as DNA repair and WNT signalling. Efforts to pharmacologically target PARP enzymes have largely focused on PARP1 and the closely related PARP2, but recent work highlighting the role of another family member, tankyrase 1 (TANK1; also known as PARP5A and ARTD5), in the control of WNT signalling has fuelled interest in the development of additional inhibitors to target this enzyme class. Tankyrase function is also implicated in other processes such as the regulation of telomere length, lung fibrogenesis and myelination, suggesting that tankyrase inhibitors could have broad clinical utility.

Caspase-3-dependent mitotic checkpoint inactivation by the small-molecule inducers of mitotic slippage SU6656 and geraldol.

Microtubule-targeting cancer drugs such as paclitaxel block cell-cycle progression at mitosis by prolonged activation of the mitotic checkpoint. Cells can spontaneously escape mitotic arrest and enter interphase without chromosome segregation by a process termed mitotic slippage that involves the degradation of cyclin B1 without mitotic checkpoint inactivation. Inducing mitotic slippage with chemicals causes cells to die after multiple rounds of DNA replication without cell division, which may enhance the antitumor activity of microtubule-targeting drugs.

Substrate binding and active site residues in RNases E and G: role of the 5'-sensor.

The paralogous endoribonucleases, RNase E and RNase G, play major roles in intracellular RNA metabolism in Escherichia coli and related organisms. To assay the relative importance of the principal RNA binding sites identified by crystallographic analysis, we introduced mutations into the 5'-sensor, the S1 domain, and the Mg(+2)/Mn(+2) binding sites. The effect of such mutations has been measured by assays of activity on several substrates as well as by an assay of RNA binding.

Effects of chemical manipulation of mitotic arrest and slippage on cancer cell survival and proliferation.

Microtubule-targeting cancer therapies interfere with mitotic spindle dynamics and block cells in mitosis by activating the mitotic checkpoint. Cells arrested in mitosis may remain arrested for extended periods of time or undergo mitotic slippage and enter interphase without having separated their chromosomes. How extended mitotic arrest and mitotic slippage contribute to subsequent cell death or survival is incompletely understood.

Synthetic approaches to the microtubule-stabilizing sponge alkaloid ceratamine A and desbromo analogues.

Two synthetic approaches to the microtubule-stabilizing ceratamine alkaloids are described. The first approach involved attempts to graft an aminoimidazole moiety onto an azepine ring to form partially hydrogenated versions of the unprecedented aromatic imidazo[4,5-d]azepine core of the ceratamines. This route ultimately failed because it was not possible to aromatize the partially hydrogenated ceratamine intermediates.

Synthesis of antimitotic analogs of the microtubule stabilizing sponge alkaloid ceratamine A.

Antimitotic analogs of the microtubule stabilizing sponge alkaloid ceratamine A (1) have been synthesized starting from tribromoimidazole. A key step in the synthesis is the formation of the azepine ring via an intramolecular Buchwald coupling between a vinyl bromide and a N-methyl amide. This represents the first synthesis of a fully unsaturated imidazo[4,5,d]azepine.

Spirastrellolides C to G: macrolides obtained from the marine sponge Spirastrella coccinea.

Five new macrolides, spirastrellolides C (3) to G (7), have been isolated from extracts of the marine sponge Spirastrella coccinea collected in Dominica. Their structures have been elucidated by a combination of spectroscopic analysis and chemical transformations.

Crystallization of aqueous inorganic-malonic acid particles: nucleation rates, dependence on size, and dependence on the ammonium-to-sulfate ratio.

Using an electrodynamic balance, we determined the relative humidity (RH) at which aqueous inorganic-malonic acid particles crystallized, with ammonium sulfate ((NH(4))(2)SO(4)), letovicite ((NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)), or ammonium bisulfate (NH(4)HSO(4)) as the inorganic component. The results for (NH(4))(2)SO(4)-malonic acid particles and (NH(4))(3)H(SO(4))(2)-malonic acid particles show that malonic acid decreases the crystallization RH of the inorganic particles by less than 7% RH when the dry malonic acid mole fraction is less than 0.25.