Many anti-cancer therapies are based on the induction of DNA damage. Cells suffering from severe DNA damage should subsequently self-destruct. However, DNA repair mechanisms protect the cells from the genotoxic effects of DNA damage, thereby reducing the effectiveness of the therapies.
Professor Ronald Kanaar from the Cancer Genomics Centre and his colleagues have now discovered that mild hyperthermia induces degradation of BRCA2, a protein that is necessary for DNA repair. Their results enable the design of unique therapeutic strategies involving localised on demand induction of deficient DNA repair. The researchers published their article in PNAS.
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