WRN Helicase: Is There More to MSI-H than Immunotherapy?

Cancer Discov. 2024 Aug 2;14(8):1369-1371. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-0771.

Abstract

In this issue, Picco and colleagues provide further evidence that WRN inhibitors are synthetically lethal in microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) cancers and function by blocking the helicase domain of select WRN residues. They demonstrate that WRN inhibitors may be even more effective in a subset of MSI-high tumors with (TA)n repeat expansions, which represents a possible strategy in clinical development. See related article by Picco et al., p. 1457 (1).

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy* / methods
  • Microsatellite Instability*
  • Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Neoplasms* / genetics
  • Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Werner Syndrome Helicase* / genetics

Substances

  • Werner Syndrome Helicase
  • WRN protein, human