cGAS and cancer therapy: a double-edged sword.

Acta Pharmacol Sin

College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.

Published: September 2022

Cyclic guanosine monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate adenosine synthetase (cGAS) is a DNA sensor that detects and binds to cytosolic DNA to generate cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP). As a second messenger, cGAMP mainly activates the adapter protein STING, which induces the production of type I interferons (IFNs) and inflammatory cytokines. Mounting evidence shows that cGAS is extensively involved in the innate immune response, senescence, and tumor immunity, thereby exhibiting a tumor-suppressive function, most of which is mediated by the STING pathway. In contrast, cGAS can also act as an oncogenic factor, mostly by increasing genomic instability through inhibitory effects on DNA repair, suggesting its utility as an antitumor target. This article reviews the roles and the underlying mechanisms of cGAS in cancer, particularly focusing on its dual roles in carcinogenesis and tumor progression, which are probably attributable to its classical and nonclassical functions, as well as approaches targeting cGAS for cancer therapy.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9433456PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41401-021-00839-6DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

cgas cancer
12
cancer therapy
8
cgas
6
therapy double-edged
4
double-edged sword
4
sword cyclic
4
cyclic guanosine
4
guanosine monophosphate-adenosine
4
monophosphate-adenosine monophosphate
4
monophosphate adenosine
4

Similar Publications

Copper-coordination driven brain-targeting nanoassembly for efficient glioblastoma multiforme immunotherapy by cuproptosis-mediated tumor immune microenvironment reprogramming.

J Nanobiotechnology

December 2024

Key Laboratory of Emergency and Trauma of Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Center for Hainan Biological Sample Resources of Major Diseases, the Hainan Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, the First Affiliated Hospital, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 570102, China.

Limited drug accumulation and an immunosuppressive microenvironment are the major bottlenecks in the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Herein, we report a copper-coordination driven brain-targeting nanoassembly (TCe6@Cu/TP5 NPs) for site-specific delivery of therapeutic agents and efficient immunotherapy by activating the cGAS-STING pathway and downregulating the expression of PD-L1. To achieve this, the mitochondria-targeting triphenylphosphorus (TPP) was linked to photosensitizer Chlorin e6 (Ce6) to form TPP-Ce6 (TCe6), which was then self-assembled with copper ions and thymopentin (TP5) to obtain TCe6@Cu/TP5 NPs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aggressive breast cancers often fail or acquire resistance to radiotherapy. To develop new strategies to improve the outcome of aggressive breast cancer patients, we studied how PARP inhibition radiosensitizes breast cancer models to proton therapy, which is a radiotherapy modality that generates more DNA damage in the tumor than standard radiotherapy using photons. Two human BRCA1-mutated breast cancer cell lines and their isogenic BRCA1-recovered pairs were treated with a PARP inhibitor and irradiated with photons or protons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Targeting nuclear mechanics is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy for sensitizing cancer cells to immunotherapy. Inhibition of the mechano-sensory kinase ATR leads to mechanical vulnerability of cancer cells, causing nuclear envelope softness and collapse and activation of the cGAS-STING-mediated innate immune response. Finding novel compounds that interfere with the non-canonical role of ATR in controlling nuclear mechanics presents an intriguing therapeutic opportunity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Epstein-Barr virus induced gene 3 (), a member of the IL-12 family, is known to be involved in malignant progression in a variety of cancers, but its role in melanoma is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of EBI3 on the malignant phenotype melanoma to reveal its potential as a therapeutic target.

Methods: In this study, we used bioinformatics to analyze the expression of in pan-cancer and verified its expression level in melanoma cells by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an extremely harmful malignant tumor. Optic atrophy 3 (OPA3) is highly expressed in multiple tumors, but its action in CRC is still unknown. This research aims to explore the role of OPA3 and its related molecular mechanisms for CRC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!