Human DNA ligases are enzymes that are indispensable for DNA replication and repair processes. Among the three human ligases, ligase I is attributed to the ligation of thousands of Okazaki fragments that are formed during lagging strand synthesis during DNA replication. Blocking ligation therefore can lead to the accumulation of thousands of single strands and subsequently double strand breaks in the DNA, which is lethal for the cells. The reports of the high expression level of ligase I protein in several cancer cells (versus the low ligase expression level and the low rate of division of most normal cells in the adult body) support the belief that ligase I inhibitors can target cancer cells specifically with minimum side effects to normal cells. Recent publications showing exciting data for a ligase IV inhibitor exhibiting antitumor activity in mouse models also strengthens the argument for ligases as valid antitumor targets. Keeping this in view, we performed a pharmacophore-based screening for potential ligase inhibitors in the Maybridge small molecule library and procured some of the top-ranking compounds for enzyme-based and cell-based in vitro screening. We report here the identification of novel ligase I inhibitors with potential anticancer activity against a colon cancer cell line.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ci5000032 | DOI Listing |
FASEB J
January 2025
Department of Nutrition, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Tamoxifen is an inhibitor of estrogen receptors and was originally developed for breast cancer therapy. Besides, tamoxifen is widely used for Cre-estrogen receptor-mediated conditional knockout in transgenic mice. However, we found that the 3-month feeding of 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiochemistry
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60607, United States.
Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) represent a transformative advancement in drug discovery, offering a method to degrade specific intracellular proteins. Unlike traditional inhibitors, PROTACs are bifunctional molecules that target proteins for elimination, enabling the potential treatment of previously "undruggable" proteins. This concept, pioneered by Crews and his team, introduced the use of small molecules to link a target protein to an E3 ubiquitin ligase, inducing ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of the target protein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCells
December 2024
State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-Products, School of Marine Sciences, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2 T (UBE2T) is a crucial E2 enzyme in the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), playing a significant role in the ubiquitination of proteins and influencing a wide range of cellular processes, including proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, invasion, and metabolism. Its overexpression has been implicated in various malignancies, such as lung adenocarcinoma, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, and ovarian cancer, where it correlates strongly with disease progression. UBE2T facilitates tumorigenesis and malignant behaviors by mediating essential functions such as DNA repair, apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, and the activation of oncogenic signaling pathways.
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January 2025
Faculty of Medical Sciences, Neuroscience Research Center, Lebanese University, Hadath, Lebanon.
Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common primary brain tumor in adults and has a median survival of less than 15 months. Advancements in the field of epigenetics have expanded our understanding of cancer biology and helped explain the molecular heterogeneity of these tumors. B-cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus insertion site-1 (Bmi-1) is a member of the highly conserved polycomb group (PcG) protein family that acts as a transcriptional repressor of multiple genes, including those that determine cell proliferation and differentiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnticancer Agents Med Chem
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Illinois State University, Normal, Il, USA.
Many oncoproteins are important therapeutic targets because of their critical role in inducing rapid cell proliferation, which represents one of the salient hallmarks of cancer. Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is a cancer of hematopoietic stem cells that is caused by the oncogene BCR-ABL1. BCR-ABL1 encodes a constitutively active tyrosine kinase protein that leads to the uncontrolled proliferation of myeloid cells, which is a hallmark of CML.
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