Antitumor Ribonucleases

Ribonucleases are small basic proteins that have shown remarkable antitumor activity linked to their ability to destroy RNA. Therefore, they are a second line of cancer chemotherapeutics as they are not genotoxic. This chapter summarizes the main biochemical characteristics of these enzymes and the...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Ribó i Panosa, Marc, Benito i Mundet, Antoni, Vilanova i Brugués, Maria
Formato: capítulo de livro
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:España
Recursos:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10256/16188
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10256/16188
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Ribonucleases
Enginyeria de proteïnes
Protein engineering
Citotoxicitat
Càncer -- Tractament
Cancer -- Treatment
Cytotoxicity
Descrição
Resumo:Ribonucleases are small basic proteins that have shown remarkable antitumor activity linked to their ability to destroy RNA. Therefore, they are a second line of cancer chemotherapeutics as they are not genotoxic. This chapter summarizes the main biochemical characteristics of these enzymes and the key factors responsible for their cytotoxic mechanism. Some of them are shared by most cytotoxins, but each RNase has particular cancer cell killing abilities. The effects on the cell cycle and the induced apoptosis mechanism are cell dependent. The knowledge obtained from the cytotoxic mechanism of natural cytotoxic RNases has been used to artificially engineer more potent and selective RNA-degrading enzymes. These approaches are also described. The chapter ends with a brief description of the results of the clinical trials performed with RNases