Scientists have discovered the first stage of a ‘DNA repair engine' that reverses the beneficial effects of chemotherapy.
The study, conducted by Cancer Research UK, discovered a DNA pathway that is vital to the repair of cancer cells after they have been treated by chemotherapy.
It is hoped this could result in new drugs being developed to increase the effectiveness of treatment by targeting this pathway and ‘switching off' the repair.
Until now a lack of structural information on the pathway has hindered a complete molecular understanding of associated diseases, including cancer, and made it more difficult to develop effective treatments to block it.
Dr Helen Walden, lead investigator at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute said: "Our team has determined the structure of the engine in the cell's maintenance pack that if switched off would make cells much more responsive to chemotherapy.
"By blocking this repair ‘ignition switch' it may be possible to boost traditional treatments. As such, it's a drug target."
Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of cancer information, said: "This is important research which gets right to the heart of a tactic that cancer cells use to shield themselves from chemotherapy.
"These findings give us a promising target for potential drugs to soften up cancer cells as chemotherapy is delivered - to make it as effective as possible."
The research is published in the journal ‘Nature Structural and Molecular Biology'.
