title: PARP inhibition as a prototype for synthetic lethal screens.
abstract: Although DNA damaging chemotherapy and radiation therapy remain the main stay of current treatments for cancer patient, these therapies usually have toxic side effect and narrow therapeutic window. One of the challenges in cancer drug discovery is how to identify drugs that selectively kill cancer cells while leaving the normal cell intact. Recently, synthetic lethality has been applied to cancer drug discovery in various settings, and has become a promising approach for identifying novel agents for the treatment of cancer. A prototypical example is the synthetic lethal interaction between PARP inhibition and BRCA deficiency. PARP inhibitors represent the most advanced clinical agents targeting specifically DNA repair mechanisms in cancer therapy. In this chapter, I will review the molecular mechanism for this synthetic lethality and the clinical applications for PARP inhibitors. I will also discuss the formats of synthetic lethal screens, current progress on the utilization of these screens, and some of the advantages and challenges of synthetic lethal screens in cancer drug discovery.
authors: Cancer Research, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA.
authors: Xuesong
authors: X
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019313:BRCA1 Protein / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics; D024682:BRCA2 Protein / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000067856:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D019313:BRCA1 Protein; C492913:BRCA1 protein, human; D024682:BRCA2 Protein; C551750:BRCA2 protein, human; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D000067856:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase Inhibitors; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering