A First-in-Class High-Throughput Screen to Discover Modulators of the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) Pathway.

ABSTRACT: Telomeres are a protective cap that prevents chromosome ends from being recognized as double-stranded breaks. In somatic cells, telomeres shorten with each cell division due to the end replication problem, which eventually leads to senescence, a checkpoint proposed to prevent uncontrolled cell growth. Tumor cells avoid telomere shortening by activating one of two telomere maintenance mechanisms (TMMs): telomerase reactivation or alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT). TMMs are a viable target for cancer treatment as they are not active in normal, differentiated cells. Whereas there is a telomerase inhibitor currently undergoing clinical trials, there are no known ALT inhibitors in development, partially because the complex ALT pathway is still poorly understood. For cancers such as neu

SUBMITTER: Froney MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11406699 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature