G2M: Loosening the ground

Since a hallmark of cancer is aberrant gene expression, finding a way to return expression patterns to normal is a potential treatment strategy. One way the body fine tunes gene expression is through modifications of histone proteins, the DNA packing material. G2M Cancer Drugs AG is exploiting this role by developing modulators of histone modification as drugs to alter gene expression. The technology has potential in inflammation as well.

For years, histone proteins were regarded as mere packing material to organize and coil DNA so that it fits into a nucleus. But since the late 1990s, it has become clear that histones have highly modifiable amino acid termini. The latest thinking is that these tails may carry their own combinatorial "histone codes" to help control gene expression and the resulting cellular phenotype...