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Therapeutic Targets and Drugs II: G-Quadruplex and G-Quadruplex Inhibitors

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Telomeres and Telomerase in Cancer

Part of the book series: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development ((CDD&D))

Abstract

Human telomeric DNA consists of tandem repeats of the sequence d(TTAGGG) and can form G-quadruplex DNA secondary structures. Compounds that can stabilize the intramolecular DNA G-quadruplexes formed in the human telomeric sequence have been shown to inhibit the activity of telomerase and telomere maintenance, thus the telomeric DNA G-quadruplex has been considered as an attractive target for cancer therapeutic intervention. This review will give an overview of the current understanding of structures and biology of G-quadruplex secondary structures formed in human telomere, and of the current progress in the development of anticancer drugs targeting the telomeric G-quadruplexes.

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  1. College of Pharmacy, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Chandanamali Punchihewa & Danzhou Yang

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  1. Chandanamali Punchihewa
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  2. Danzhou Yang
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  1. Dept. Translational Cancer Research, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Hiroshima, Minami-Ku, 734-8551, Japan

    Keiko Hiyama

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Punchihewa, C., Yang, D. (2009). Therapeutic Targets and Drugs II: G-Quadruplex and G-Quadruplex Inhibitors. In: Hiyama, K. (eds) Telomeres and Telomerase in Cancer. Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-879-9_11

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