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Isolation and Characterization of Tumor-initiating Cells from Sarcoma Patient-derived Xenografts
Published on: June 13, 2019
Is TFIIH the new Achilles heel of cancer cells?
Pietro Berico1,2,3,4, Frédéric Coin1,2,3,4
1a IGBMC, Department of Functional Genomics and Cancer , CNRS/INSERM/University of Strasbourg , Strasbourg , France.
Abstract:
TFIIH is a 10-subunit complex involved in transcription and DNA repair. It contains several enzymatic activities including a ATP-dependent DNA translocase in XPB and a cyclin-dependent kinase in CDK7. Recently the discovery of several XPB and CDK7 inhibitors with specific impact on the transcriptional addiction of many tumors pinpointed these activities as potential target in cancer chemotherapy. Unexpectedly a basal transcription factor involved in global mRNA expression now emerges a one of the most clinically promising Achilles heels of cancerous cells. These inhibitors also proved to be useful tools to unveil new functions of TFIIH in gene expression.
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