The Cell Cycle and How Anti-Cancer Agents Target a Particular Step (Coursework Sample)

The Cell Cycle and How Anti-Cancer Agents Target a Particular Step Author Instructor Affiliation Course Date The Cell Cycle and How Anti-Cancer Agents Target a Particular Step The cell cycle, responsible for growth, replication, and division, constitutes G1 (cell growth), S (DNA synthesis), G2 (preparation for division), and M (mitosis). The G1 checkpoint is a key checkpoint that ensures DNA is intact before replication. The G2 checkpoint is another checkpoint that checks whether DNA replication is accurate before cell division (Hitner, 2021). Cancer results from dysregulation of the cell cycle wherein the cells multiply without control, ultimately forming a tumor. Anti-cancer agents aim to inhibit the rapid multiplication of cancer cells by targeting specific stages of the cell cycle. Cell cycle inhibitors are one of the major groups of drugs. An example is CDK inhibitors like palbociclib and abemaciclib, which interfere with the functions of CDKs central to cell cycle progression (Hitner, 2021). They especially inhibit CDK4 and CDK6, stopping the phase from G1 to S. These drugs hold cells in the G1 phase and thus inhibit cancerous growth. The other class of anti-cancer agents attacks DNA synthesis during the S phase. For example, antimetabolites such as 5-fluorouracil and methotrexate are made to look like essential compounds used in cellular replication and interfere with normal DNA replication (Hitner, 2021). These agents disturb nucleotide synthesis, essential for DNA formation, halting the cell cycle and eventually causing cell suicide. Anti-cancer drugs should target the final stage of the cell cycle, mitosis. Paclitaxel a...