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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Sequence-specific and Selective Recognition of Double-stranded RNAs over Single-stranded RNAs by Chemically Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids
09:04

Sequence-specific and Selective Recognition of Double-stranded RNAs over Single-stranded RNAs by Chemically Modified Peptide Nucleic Acids

Published on: September 21, 2017

Nucleic acids as targets for antitelomerase agents

Patrizia Alberti1, Laurent Lacroix, Lionel Guittat

  • 1Laboratoire de Biophysique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, INSERM U 565, CNRS UMR 8646, Paris, France.

Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry
|February 7, 2003
PubMed

Insights

Telomeres shorten with cell division without telomerase. Inhibiting telomerase, active in cancer cells but not most normal cells, offers a promising anticancer strategy, particularly using quadruplex ligands.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Telomeric DNA shortens with each cell division in cells lacking telomerase, an enzyme essential for replicating chromosomal ends.
  • Telomerase is active in tumor cells but typically absent in most somatic cells.
  • This differential expression makes telomeres and telomerase attractive targets for novel anticancer drug development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore strategies for inhibiting telomerase activity.
  • To focus on targeting the telomere/telomerase nucleic acid component.
  • To emphasize the potential of quadruplex ligands in this inhibition.

Main Methods:

  • Review and presentation of various strategies to inhibit telomerase.
  • Focus on molecular interactions with telomere and telomerase nucleic acid structures.
  • Special emphasis on the application of quadruplex-specific ligands.

Main Results:

  • Identification of distinct strategies for telomerase inhibition.
  • Demonstration of targeting nucleic acid components of the telomere/telomerase complex.
  • Highlighting the efficacy of quadruplex ligands in these inhibitory approaches.

Conclusions:

  • Inhibiting telomerase presents a viable strategy for cancer therapy.
  • Quadruplex ligands are effective agents for targeting telomere/telomerase nucleic acids.
  • Further development of telomerase inhibitors, especially quadruplex ligands, holds significant therapeutic promise.

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