Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 9, 2026
12:03
Evaluation of the Efficacy And Toxicity of RNAs Targeting HIV-1 Production for Use in Gene or Drug Therapy
Published on: September 5, 2016
Poly ADP-ribose polymerase inhibitors: science and current clinical development
1Women's Cancers Program, Medical Oncology Department, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Current Opinion in Oncology
|August 27, 2010
Summary
Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors show promise in cancer therapy. They are effective alone in certain cancers and enhance chemotherapy by exploiting synthetic lethality.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors represent a novel class of anticancer agents.
- Their development is rooted in the concept of synthetic lethality, a genetic principle with therapeutic implications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the mechanism of action of PARP inhibitors.
- To summarize their current clinical development status.
- To explore emerging mechanisms of resistance to PARP inhibitors.
Main Methods:
- This review synthesizes findings from preclinical studies and clinical trials.
- It examines the molecular basis of PARP inhibitor activity.
- It analyzes data on therapeutic efficacy and resistance patterns.
Main Results:
- PARP inhibitors induce lethality in cancer cells with homologous recombination defects.
- Clinical trials confirm synergy between PARP inhibitors and cytotoxic chemotherapy.
- Early research is identifying mechanisms through which cancer cells develop resistance.
Conclusions:
- PARP inhibitors leverage synthetic lethality for cancer treatment.
- They demonstrate efficacy as monotherapy in specific cancer types.
- They hold potential to potentiate conventional chemotherapy regimens.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:30Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Protein synthesis is indispensable for viral replication, as viruses lack the cellular machinery required for this process and must hijack the host's translational apparatus. In response, host cells deploy a critical innate immune defense involving interferons, specialized cytokines that play a central role in inhibiting viral propagation.Upon viral detection, infected cells release interferons that bind to receptors on adjacent uninfected cells, activating the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and...
01:22Antiviral Nucleoside Inhibitors
Antiviral Nucleoside InhibitorsAntiviral nucleoside inhibitors are structural analogs of natural nucleosides that interfere with viral DNA or RNA synthesis. These compounds selectively target viral polymerases due to their resemblance to host nucleosides, thereby disrupting viral genome replication.Mechanism of Acyclovir ActionAcyclovir is a guanosine analog with a three-carbon acyclic side chain. It selectively targets herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2),...
01:28Inhibitors of Bacterial DNA Synthesis
Bacterial pathogens depend on precise and efficient DNA replication to sustain infection. Two type II topoisomerases—DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV—are critical to this process, as they resolve DNA supercoiling and unlink chromosomes during replication. Fluoroquinolones, synthetic derivatives of quinolones, exploit this mechanism by stabilizing the transient DNA–enzyme cleavage complex, preventing strand religation, and causing lethal double-strand breaks. These antibiotics are selectively...
02:15Experimental RNAi
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular mechanism that inhibits gene expression by suppressing its transcription or activating the RNA degradation process. The mechanism was discovered by Andrew Fire and Craig Mello in 1998 in plants. Today, it is observed in almost all eukaryotes, including protozoa, flies, nematodes, insects, parasites, and mammals. This precise cellular mechanism of gene silencing has been developed into a technique that provides an efficient way to identify and determine the...
01:25Inhibitors of Bacterial Protein Synthesis
Aminoglycosides constitute a highly potent class of bactericidal antibiotics that exert their antimicrobial effects by targeting the bacterial ribosome, specifically disrupting protein synthesis. These polycationic molecules consist of amino-modified sugars linked via glycosidic bonds to an aminocyclitol core such as 2-deoxystreptamine or streptamine. Their strong positive charges facilitate tight binding to the negatively charged phosphate backbone of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), primarily at the 16S...
01:11Pharmacogenetics of Drug Targets: β₂-Adrenergic Receptors, Apo E, Thymidylate Synthase
Genetic polymorphisms in drug targets have emerged as critical determinants of interindividual variability in drug response and toxicity. Pharmacogenomic investigations increasingly focus on identifying these variations to personalize and optimize therapeutic interventions. A drug target may be a receptor, enzyme, or signaling protein involved in pharmacologic responses or disease-related pathways. While early pharmacogenetic studies focused primarily on drug metabolism, current research...