Gene expression signature based screening identifies ribonucleotide reductase as a candidate therapeutic target in Ewing sarcoma.

ABSTRACT: There is a critical need in cancer therapeutics to identify targeted therapies that will improve outcomes and decrease toxicities compared to conventional, cytotoxic chemotherapy. Ewing sarcoma is a highly aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer that is caused by the EWS-FLI1 fusion protein. Although EWS-FLI1 is specific for cancer cells, and required for tumorigenesis, directly targeting this transcription factor has proven challenging. Consequently, targeting unique dependencies or key downstream mediators of EWS-FLI1 represent important alternative strategies. We used gene expression data derived from a genetically defined model of Ewing sarcoma to interrogate the Connectivity Map and identify a class of drugs, iron chelators, that downregulate a significant number of EWS-FLI1 target gen

SUBMITTER: Goss KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5325343 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature