Human DNA repair: new knowledge, new therapeutic targets
Guest edited by Dr Andrew Cubbon and Professor Ed Bolt
DNA repair proteins are essential for the maintenance of genome stability and avoidance of cell malfunction or death triggered by a multitude of endogenous and exogenous factors. With numerous repair pathways operating at all times, it is crucial that cells regulate their use to avoid conflicts with DNA replication and transcription, and potential for mutagenesis. In unhealthy human cells, it is critical to understand the interplay of these processes to avoid them gaining resistance to therapies that target DNA repair. Deepening our understanding of the role played by DNA repair in cancer biology will help to tackle difficult therapeutic targets, identify new ones, and develop novel therapies.
This themed collection for Bioscience Reports uses the lens of DNA repair to focus on aspects of cancer biology, repair mechanisms in human cells, and the impact of their malfunction. It includes reviews on the current landscape of novel target identification through discovering synthetic lethal interactions, the targeting of viral replication proteins that depend on human DNA repair, and how this fits with future developments in drug discovery.
We would like to thank all the authors involved for their excellent contributions, and we hope you enjoy reading this themed collection.