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Anti-cancer activity of ultra-short single-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotides

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Summary

One of the features that differentiate cancer cells is their increased proliferation rate, which creates an opportunity for general anti-tumor therapy directed against the elevated activity of replicative apparatus in tumor cells. Besides DNA synthesis, successful genome replication requires the reparation of the newly synthesized DNA. Malfunctions in reparation can cause fatal injuries in the genome and cell death. Recently we have found that the ultra-short single-stranded deoxyribose polynucleotides of random sequence (ssDNA) effectively inhibit the catalytic activity of DNA polymerase \(\beta\). This effect allowed considering these substances as potential anti-tumor drugs, which was confirmed experimentally both in vitro (using cancer cell cultures) and in vivo (using cancer models in mice). According to the obtained results, ssDNA significantly suppresses cancer development and tumor growth, allowing consideration of them as novel candidates for anti-cancer drugs.

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Funding

The work was supported by Ministry of Science and Education of Russian Federation, grant number 122040500058-1.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. N.N. Semenov Federal Research Center for Chemical Physics RAS, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander S. Vedenkin, Sergey V. Stovbun, Dmitry V. Zlenko & Dmitry A. Kuznetsov

  2. N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander A Bukhvostov, Valentin V. Fursov & Dmitry A. Kuznetsov

  3. A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, Moscow, Russia

    Dmitry V. Zlenko

  4. Department of Psychopharmacology, FSBI “Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology”, Moscow, Russia

    Ivan S. Stovbun

  5. Institute of Chemical Biology & Fundamental Medicine, Siberian Branch of RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Vladimir N. Silnikov

  6. Institute of Physical and Biophysical Research, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia

    Valentin V. Fursov

Authors
  1. Alexander S. Vedenkin
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  2. Sergey V. Stovbun
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  3. Alexander A Bukhvostov
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  5. Ivan S. Stovbun
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  6. Vladimir N. Silnikov
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  8. Dmitry A. Kuznetsov
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Contributions

Authors’ contributions: A Vedenkin – design of experiments, making experiments (in vivo), text writing (initial draft); S. Stovbun – design of experiments, data analysis and discussion; A. Bukhvostov – making experiments (in vitro); D. Zlenko – data analysis, text writing (final text); I. Stovbun – data analysis and discussion; V. Silnikov – chemicals’ synthesis; V. Fursov – making experiments (in vitro)D. Kuznetsov – design of experiments, data analysis.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexander S. Vedenkin.

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This study was accomplished according to European Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Approval of the research protocol was granted by the Bioethics Committee of the FRCCP RAS (#2021-011).

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Vedenkin, A.S., Stovbun, S.V., Bukhvostov, A.A. et al. Anti-cancer activity of ultra-short single-stranded polydeoxyribonucleotides. Invest New Drugs 41, 153–161 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10637-023-01333-y

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