University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences strengthens cancer treatment research through DNA
Photo credit: Bryan Clifton
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is working to enhance their cancer treatment research with a nearly $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year funding opportunity will support research into DNA structures known as quadruplexes — unusual formations that could revolutionize how we approach cancer treatment. Led by Kevin Raney, PhD, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the study aims to explore how these structures interact with key proteins involved in disease, potentially acting as natural drugs.
Raney and his team are particularly interested in how quadruplexes bind to proteins like PARP1, a major target in breast cancer therapies. “As it turns out, quadruplex snippets of DNA bind really tightly to PARP1 and inhibit its ability to bind to genomic DNA where it’s normally found,” Raney explained. This discovery opens the door to developing new treatments that could be more effective than current options. The research also delves into helicases — tiny cellular motors essential for DNA function — which were unexpectedly found to interact with quadruplexes.
The implications of this research are vast. Quadruplexes, once thought to be cellular waste, are now recognized as powerful biological tools. “I think that taking advantage of the quadruplexes’ ability to enter cancer cells more easily than normal cells is an area that’s ripe for pursuing,” Raney said.