title: Searching drug-like anti-cancer compound(s) based on G-quadruplex ligands.
abstract: G-quadruplex structure is a four-stranded form of DNA, which is associated with cancer cell proliferation. G-quadruplex-stabilized ligands have the potential to interfere with telomere replication by blocking the elongation procedure catalyzed by telomerase, and therefore have the potential to be anti-cancer drugs. A considerable number of novel compounds capable of targeting G-quadruplex at high affinity and specificity have been reported. Among them, several G-quadruplex ligands have shown promising anti-cancer activity in tumor xenograft models, and entered phase II clinical trials on cancer patients. This review summarized recent developments of G-quadruplex ligands as anti-cancer drugs and several powerful strategies to discover novel G-quadruplex ligands as anti-cancer drug candidates by screening natural product extracts and structural optimization of previously identified typical compounds.
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jun-Feng
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ya-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017321:Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D054856:G-Quadruplexes; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D008024:Ligands