Understanding a newly discovered way cells repair damage to DNA
Cancer types:
General cancer research
Project period:
–
Research institute:
Institut Pasteur
Award amount:
£168,787
Location:
France
Dr Ludovic Deriano aims to discover exactly how specific genes help to repair damage to DNA in the hope of identifying new ways that cancers could be treated.
Meet the scientist
Dr Ludovic Deriano is Head of the Genome Integrity, Immunity and Cancer group at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. His expertise in how cells deal with DNA damage and how they repair different types of damage is revealing how cancer cells can be targeted for treatment.
The science
Drugs that target the way cancer cells repair damage to their DNA have rapidly become successful at treating many different types of cancer. Simply put, too much DNA damage and the cell will die, so by blocking repair in cancer cells you can make them susceptible to DNA damaging agents such as chemotherapy.
Dr Ludovic Deriano and his team recently discovered two new genes, which play an important role in controlling DNA repair. They now want to discover exactly how these genes help to repair damage to DNA and reveal a novel molecular mechanism that could be used as a new therapeutic target for cancer.
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