Danish Cancer Institute shared a post on LinkedIn:
“NEWS: New study reveals how cell cycle control safeguards genome replication – and informs cancer therapy.
A new paper in Nature Communications by researchers from the Danish Cancer Institute, Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Geneva uncovers how CDK4/6–RB signalling couples cell division with DNA replication.
The study shows that cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) promote replication licensing by neutralising inhibitory signals from RB tumour suppressor proteins. Timely RB phosphorylation ensures accurate genome duplication before division. Strikingly, combining CDK inhibitors with licensing inhibition induced lethal divisions with unreplicated DNA, especially in p53-deficient cells, pointing to a potential strategy for selectively targeting common cancer subtypes.
“The new study builds on the knowledge we have contributed over the years about the role of the retinoblastoma protein and its regulation in cell division, and how this mechanism helps prevent errors in our genes and thereby the development of cancer,” professor Jiri Bartek says.
This work highlights how the CDK4/6–RB axis synchronises cell proliferation with genome replication, offering a new framework for understanding targeted cancer therapies and advancing fundamental cancer biology.”
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