Telomere Targeting Approaches in Cancer: Beyond Length Maintenance
Eleonora Vertecchi, Angela Rizzo, Erica Salvati
Abstract
Telomeres are crucial structures that preserve genome stability. Their progressive erosion over numerous DNA duplications determines the senescence of cells and organisms. As telomere length homeostasis is critical for cancer development, nowadays, telomere maintenance mechanisms are established targets in cancer treatment. Besides telomere elongation, telomere dysfunction impinges on intracellular signaling pathways, in particular DNA damage signaling and repair, affecting cancer cell survival and proliferation. This review summarizes and discusses recent findings in anticancer drug development targeting different "telosome" components.
Topics & Concepts
TelomereBiologyGenome instabilityDNA damageSenescenceDNA repairCancerCancer cellCell biologyGeneticsDNAComputational biologyTelomeres, Telomerase, and SenescenceCancer Research and TreatmentsAdvanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques