About this Research Topic
Cancer remains a significant global health challenge, with conventional therapies often facing limitations in efficacy and adverse effects. DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis mechanisms play a pivotal role in the development and progression of cancer. Over the years, targeting these DNA metabolic pathways has emerged as a promising avenue for developing innovative cancer therapies that offer improved patient outcomes. Understanding the key players involved in DNA damage, mutagenesis, and repair and the various mechanisms they influence provides the foundation for novel drug discovery. Exploiting novel strategies for cancer therapy through targeted disruption of DNA repair pathways holds immense promise for revolutionizing cancer treatment, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes.
Defects in DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis contribute to widespread genomic instability in cells and are a significant driver for tumorigenesis. Over the past decade alone, a significant effort has been made to understand the DNA damage response (DDR) field in-depth and identify the various players that govern it. One such example is understanding how PARP mediates DNA repair and the subsequent discovery of PARP inhibitors that are now standard of care for BRCA mutant cancer patients. Therefore, understanding the complexity around the various DDR pathways and the multitudinous roles DDR proteins play have paved the way for the successful discovery of novel anti-cancer therapies.
The primary goal of studying DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis is to understand the intricate mechanisms that maintain the integrity of the genetic material within a cell. This knowledge has far-reaching implications for various fields, including genetics, medicine, cancer research, and evolutionary biology. In essence, studying DNA repair aims to harness this knowledge to improve human health, prevent diseases, develop targeted therapies, and unlock the mysteries of genetics and biology.
This Research Topic will highlight articles that discuss, but are not limited to, the following topics:
1. Novel findings in the field of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis.
2. Mechanism of action of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis.
3. Genome instability and tumorigenesis
4. Principles of synthetic lethality for cancer treatment.
5. Development and identification of novel drug inhibitors that target these pathways.
6. DDR (DNA damage and repair) targets and associated clinical studies.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Defects in DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis contribute to widespread genomic instability in cells and are a significant driver for tumorigenesis. Over the past decade alone, a significant effort has been made to understand the DNA damage response (DDR) field in-depth and identify the various players that govern it. One such example is understanding how PARP mediates DNA repair and the subsequent discovery of PARP inhibitors that are now standard of care for BRCA mutant cancer patients. Therefore, understanding the complexity around the various DDR pathways and the multitudinous roles DDR proteins play have paved the way for the successful discovery of novel anti-cancer therapies.
The primary goal of studying DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis is to understand the intricate mechanisms that maintain the integrity of the genetic material within a cell. This knowledge has far-reaching implications for various fields, including genetics, medicine, cancer research, and evolutionary biology. In essence, studying DNA repair aims to harness this knowledge to improve human health, prevent diseases, develop targeted therapies, and unlock the mysteries of genetics and biology.
This Research Topic will highlight articles that discuss, but are not limited to, the following topics:
1. Novel findings in the field of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis.
2. Mechanism of action of DNA damage, repair, and mutagenesis.
3. Genome instability and tumorigenesis
4. Principles of synthetic lethality for cancer treatment.
5. Development and identification of novel drug inhibitors that target these pathways.
6. DDR (DNA damage and repair) targets and associated clinical studies.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Keywords: DNA damage and repair, replication stress and stress response, checkpoint signaling, DNA damage tolerance, synthetic lethality, genomic instability, microsatellite instability, chemotherapy, cancer therapeutics, novel DDR drug targets
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
