Abstract.
Resistance to apoptosis is a common challenge in human malignancies contributing to both progress of cancer and resistance to conventional therapeutics. Abnormalities in a variety of cell intrinsic and extrinsic molecular mechanisms cooperatively promote tumor formation. Therapeutic approaches that specifically target components of these molecular mechanisms are getting widespread attention. Mcl-1 is a highly expressed pro-survival protein in human malignancies and its cellular expression is tightly regulated via multiple mechanisms. Mcl-1 differs from other members of the Bcl-2 family in having a very short half-life. So inhibition of its expression and/or neutralization of its anti-apoptotic function will rapidly make Mcl-1-dependent cells more susceptible to apoptosis and provide an opportunity to combat several types of cancers. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the regulation of Mcl-1 expression and discusses the alternative approaches targeting Mcl-1 in human cancer cells whose survivals mainly depend on Mcl-1.
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Received 6 October 2008; received after revision 21 October 2008; accepted 10 November 2008
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Akgul, C. Mcl-1 is a potential therapeutic target in multiple types of cancer. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 66, 1326–1336 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-008-8637-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-008-8637-6