Suppression of chromosome instability by targeting a DNA helicase in budding yeast

Abstract

Cancers are characterized by chromosome instability (CIN), which drives tumor formation, evolution, and drug resistance. In this study, we investigated an intriguing observation that deletion of the evolutionarily conserved helicase Rrm3 leads to a wide range of chromosome instability suppression in budding yeast. CIN suppression appears to occur through increased potential for kinetochore–micro­tubule error correction. These results provide a novel link between the Rrm3 helicase localization of error-correcting enzymes and implicate the homologous human helicase, Pif1, as a potential therapeutic target for CIN suppression.