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Apoptin: nuclear switch triggers cancer cell death

Gene Therapy volume 6, pages 713–714 (1999)Cite this article

The success of current cancer therapies is limited by a combination of efficiency and specificity. For improved treatments to be developed, the ability to target tumour cells selectively is essential, allowing a greater dose of therapeutic agent to be delivered without adversely affecting non-malignant tissue. A novel strategy using the chick anaemia virus protein apoptin, presented in this issue of Gene Therapy, may provide a means to achieve this goal.1

The development of cancerous tumours results from a combination of increased cell proliferation and an inability to undergo apoptotic cell death.2,3 Apoptosis is a complex process which can occur via several pathways, each involving a cascade of events. In general, apoptosis induced by external stimuli such as DNA damage or virus infection proceeds through a p53-dependent pathway, and is regulated by a number of proteins, most notably those of the Bcl-2 family. Conversely, pathways controlling apoptosis during development of an organism are almost exclusively p53-independent, operating instead through the interaction of ‘death’ receptors with specific ligands (such as Fas–Fas ligand) and by-passing the control of the Bcl-2 family. Whichever pathway is triggered, cell death results from the activation of caspase proteases which dismantle the cell. In the majority of cancerous cells, mutations in p53 or other regulators of p53-dependent apoptosis can be identified.4

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  1. Molecular Medicine Program, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    A L Murphy

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  1. A L Murphy
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Murphy, A. Apoptin: nuclear switch triggers cancer cell death. Gene Ther 6, 713–714 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300892

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