The article discusses DNA damage response (DDR) as a source of an anti-cancer drug target. The DNA damage response (DDR) is a network of cellular activity that occurs when the cell detects DNA damage, including DNA replication, cell-cycle arrest, and the repair or bypass of DNA damage. There are around 450 proteins that are a part of the DNA damage response (DDR) network. DNA damage can occur in any part of the (DDR), and these damages may be able to be compensated by repair mechanisms and signaling pathways. There are several major repair pathways discussed in this article. The base excision repair (BERs) pathway plays an important role in repairing the DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs). The Nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway is important in repairing nucleotides that distort the shape of the double helix. The mismatch repair (MMR) pathway repairs errors in replication, such as the repair of nucleotide insertions and deletions.
The article discusses the loss of DNA damage response (DDR) in cancer can lead to …show more content…
Ionizing radiation is the most common therapeutic agent used in cancer treatment. Ionizing radiation achieves its success by damaging DNA with free radicals. This type of treatment often leaves toxicity in the normal cells surrounding the irradiated cells. The author of the article suggests that using DDR inhibitors in combination with the radiation as treatment of tumor cells. This would enhance the effects of radiation on tumor cells by causing only the tumor cells to be more sensitive to the radiation while having no effect on the normal