Cause of Resistance to Anticancer PARP Inhibitors Uncovered

Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in the U.K. have harnessed CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology to uncover why some tumors are resistant to poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors such as olaparib and talazoparib. The studies, headed by Chris Lord, Ph.D., professor of Cancer Genomics at ICR, found that mutations in the PARP1 gene prevent the enzyme from being trapped by the drugs when it binds to DNA, resulting in resistance to PARP inhibitor therapy  in vitro a