Just like normal cells, cancer cells have ways of repairing damage that occurs to them. In this episode of Science Illustrated we discuss one way, scientists are able to attack some cancers by preventing cancer cells from repairing themselves.
For more information on PARP Inhibitors, visit: www.dana-farber.org/PARP-inhib...
Transcript:
Every cell in our body is a machine with a special function. And, like machines everywhere, our cells sometimes suffer damage that interferes with their operation.
One part of a cell that can be damaged is DNA, the genetic material that controls just about everything a cell does. Fortunately, cells have several mechanisms for making repairs. When both strands of the DNA molecule are damaged, normal cells use genes known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 to create proteins that help repair the breaks.
Cancer cells, too, have ways of repairing damage to their DNA, which allows them to continue wreaking havoc within the body.
In some cancer patients, however, mutations in the BRCA genes prevent the proteins from making repairs. Without repairs, damage would pile up to the point where DNA could no longer function, and the cancer cells would die.
But cancer cells have a second repair crew that specializes in fixing damaged DNA. The crew is led by proteins known as poly ADP ribose polymerases, or PARPs. These repairs allow the cancer cells to remain alive and to grow and divide.
Now, doctors have a new way of attacking such cells. Drugs known as PARP inhibitors can knock the PARP proteins out of commission.
The loss of the PARP repair crew allows more and more damage to occur to the cancer cells’ DNA.
Eventually the DNA becomes so damaged it’s useless, and the cancer cells die.