Chapter category: Cell Cycle

G2 Checkpoint and Anticancer Therapy

This chapter appears in the following book:

Cell Cycle Checkpoints and Cancer

Edited by: Mikhail V. Blagosklonny
ISBN: 1-58706-067-1
» Get more information about this book at landesbioscience.com «

Chapter authors:
Zoe A. Stewart and Jennifer A. Pietenpol

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Over the past two decades, the basic molecular events controlling eukaryotic G2 to M-phase cell cycle transition have been deciphered. Studies in a variety of organisms have identified an evolutionarily conserved system for controlling mitotic onset through regulation of Cdc2 kinase activity. Recently, investigations have focused on how the signaling pathways that mediate the G2 transition are regulated and modified after cellular stresses. In response to DNA damage, eukaryotic cells activate biochemical pathways, called checkpoints, to halt cell cycle progression and allow cellular damage to be repaired. Recent studies suggest that the DNA damage-induced G2 checkpoint is comprised of an early activation stage as well as a subsequent maintenance phase. In the absence of proper G2 checkpoint function, cells proceed to mitosis with damaged DNA, resulting in either apoptosis or permanent alteration of the genome that may contribute to tumorigenesis. The ability to manipulate G2 checkpoint signaling also has important clinical implications, as abrogation of the G2 checkpoint in human tumor cells can enhance cellular sensitivity to chemotherapeutic regimens that induce DNA damage. This chapter will focus on (i) eukaryotic DNA damage-induced G2 checkpoint signaling pathways and (ii) how knowledge of these signaling pathways may lead to more efficient use of current anticancer therapies and the development of novel agents.

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Chapter category: Cell Cycle

G2 Checkpoint and Anticancer Therapy

Additional chapters from this book:

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