News Releases & Research Results A new function of protein SLFN11 to markedly improve the efficacy of anticancer drugs

The results of international collaborative research conducted by Specially Appointed Associate Professor Junko Murai et al. of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

• A new function was discovered for “SLFN11,” a protein that markedly improves the anticancer effects of platinum preparations (platinum-containing anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin and carboplatin) used in cancer treatments for 50 years and PARP inhibitors approved for ovarian cancer in Japan.
• Specifically, “SLFN11” alters the chromatin structure in combination with an anticancer drug and enhances the expressions of immediate early genes, i.e., genes involved in stress and immune responses.
• The results of the research should be applied to future cancer treatments.

The research was conducted with the support of the Project for Cancer Research and Therapeutic Evolution by AMED.

The results of the research were published online in the US scientific journal, Cell Reports, on March 25.

Murai J., et al. Chromatin Remodeling and Immediate Early Gene Activation by SLFN11 in Response to Replication Stress Cell Reports
DOI：10.1016/j.celrep.2020.02.117