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Updated: Jan 29, 2026

Author Spotlight: Developing Acetyl-Click Assay for HAT1 Inhibitor Screening
Published on: January 26, 2024
ALT cancer cells are specifically sensitive to lysine acetyl transferase inhibition
Dalal Bakhos-Douaihy1,2,3,4, Chantal Desmaze1,2,3,4, Maya Jeitany1,2,3,4
1Laboratoire de Radiopathologie, CEA, Institut de Radiobiologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France.
Abstract:
Some cancer cells elongate their telomeres through the ALT (alternative lengthening of telomeres) pathway, which is based on homologous recombination for the addition of telomere repeats without telomerase activity. General control non-derepressible 5 (GCN5) and P300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF), two homologous lysine acetyltransferases, exert opposite effects on the ALT pathway, inhibiting or favoring it respectively. Here we show that ALT cells are particularly sensitive to the inhibition of acetyltransferases activities using Anacardic Acid (AA). AA treatment recapitulates the effect of PCAF knockdown on several ALT features, suggesting that AA decreased the ALT mechanism through the inhibition of lysine transferase activity of PCAF, but not that of GCN5. Furthermore, AA specifically sensitizes human ALT cells to radiation as compared to telomerase-positive cells suggesting that the inhibition of lysine acetyltransferases activity may be used to increase the radiotherapy efficiency against ALT cancers.
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