Mammalian DNA damage response pathway.

The DNA damage response pathway is critical for the maintenance of genomic stability. Many components of this pathway are tumour suppressors, such as p53, ATM, BRCA1, NBS1, Mre11 and Chk2, underlining the critical role of the DNA damage response pathway in tumour suppression. The elucidation of the DNA damage response pathway will not only help us understand the mechanism of tumour suppression, but also allow for the discovery of new drug targets for cancer therapy. A recent example is the development of MDM2 inhibitors that could activate the p53 pathway in cancer cells (Vassilev et al., 2004). With the help of proteomics and advances in imaging techniques, we should have a better understanding of the molecular events mediating the DNA damage response in the near future.