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Topoisomerase inhibitor



Topoisomerase inhibitors are chemotherapy agents designed to interfere with the action of topoisomerase enzymes (topoisomerase I and II), which are enzymes that control the changes in DNA structure by catalyzing the breaking and rejoining of the phosphodiester backbone of DNA strands during the normal cell cycle.

In recent years, topoisomerase inhibitors have become popular targets for cancer chemotherapy treatments. It is thought that topoisomerase inhibitors block the ligation step of the cell cycle, and that topoisomerase I and II inhibitors interfere with the transcription and replication of DNA by upsetting proper DNA supercoiling.

A commonly prescribed class of topoisomerase inhibitors are fluoroquinolones.


 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Topoisomerase_inhibitor". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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