Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers

Abstract Proteins that bind to DNA/RNA are typically evolutionarily conserved with multiple regulatory functions in transcription initiation, mRNA translation, stability of RNAs, and RNA splicing. Therefore, dysregulation of DNA/RNA binding proteins such as purine-rich element binding protein alpha...

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Main Authors: Shiyi Yu, Chengyang Jiang, Yawen Yang, Fei Cheng, Fangchen Liu, Chang Liu, Xue Gong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-01-01
Series:Molecular Medicine
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s10020-025-01087-8
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author Shiyi Yu
Chengyang Jiang
Yawen Yang
Fei Cheng
Fangchen Liu
Chang Liu
Xue Gong
author_facet Shiyi Yu
Chengyang Jiang
Yawen Yang
Fei Cheng
Fangchen Liu
Chang Liu
Xue Gong
author_sort Shiyi Yu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Proteins that bind to DNA/RNA are typically evolutionarily conserved with multiple regulatory functions in transcription initiation, mRNA translation, stability of RNAs, and RNA splicing. Therefore, dysregulation of DNA/RNA binding proteins such as purine-rich element binding protein alpha (PURα) disrupts signaling transduction and often leads to human diseases including cancer. PURα was initially recognized as a tumor suppressor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and prostate cancer (PC). Most recently, several studies have revealed that PURα is dysregulated in multiple cancers, such as breast cancer (BC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The oncogenic or tumor-suppressive functions of PURα are realized via regulating RNA/protein interaction, mRNA translation, formation of stress granules (SGs), and transcriptional regulation of several oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Although DNA/RNA binding proteins are hardly targeted, novel strategies have been applied to identify compounds targeting PURα and have demonstrated promising anti-tumor efficacy in the preclinical study. The present review summarizes the most recently discovered critical roles of PURα in various cancer types, providing an overview of the biomarker and therapeutic target potential of PURα for patients with cancer.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1528-3658
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
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series Molecular Medicine
spelling doaj-art-b8b8f4bd97d74eafab0a544f3d0b6efe2025-01-26T12:38:41ZengBMCMolecular Medicine1528-36582025-01-0131111010.1186/s10020-025-01087-8Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancersShiyi Yu0Chengyang Jiang1Yawen Yang2Fei Cheng3Fangchen Liu4Chang Liu5Xue Gong6Institute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityInstitute of Translational Medicine, Medical College, Yangzhou UniversityNanjing Women and Children’s Healthcare Hospital, Maternal and Child Health Institute, Women’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical UniversityAbstract Proteins that bind to DNA/RNA are typically evolutionarily conserved with multiple regulatory functions in transcription initiation, mRNA translation, stability of RNAs, and RNA splicing. Therefore, dysregulation of DNA/RNA binding proteins such as purine-rich element binding protein alpha (PURα) disrupts signaling transduction and often leads to human diseases including cancer. PURα was initially recognized as a tumor suppressor in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and prostate cancer (PC). Most recently, several studies have revealed that PURα is dysregulated in multiple cancers, such as breast cancer (BC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The oncogenic or tumor-suppressive functions of PURα are realized via regulating RNA/protein interaction, mRNA translation, formation of stress granules (SGs), and transcriptional regulation of several oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Although DNA/RNA binding proteins are hardly targeted, novel strategies have been applied to identify compounds targeting PURα and have demonstrated promising anti-tumor efficacy in the preclinical study. The present review summarizes the most recently discovered critical roles of PURα in various cancer types, providing an overview of the biomarker and therapeutic target potential of PURα for patients with cancer.https://doi.org/10.1186/s10020-025-01087-8DNA/RNA binding proteinPURαCancerBiomarker
spellingShingle Shiyi Yu
Chengyang Jiang
Yawen Yang
Fei Cheng
Fangchen Liu
Chang Liu
Xue Gong
Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
Molecular Medicine
DNA/RNA binding protein
PURα
Cancer
Biomarker
title Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
title_full Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
title_fullStr Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
title_full_unstemmed Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
title_short Purine-rich element binding protein alpha: a DNA/RNA binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
title_sort purine rich element binding protein alpha a dna rna binding protein with multiple roles in cancers
topic DNA/RNA binding protein
PURα
Cancer
Biomarker
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s10020-025-01087-8
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