A peptide-based synthetic transcription factor selectively down-regulates the proto-oncogene CFOS in tumour cells and inhibits proliferation.

Abstract

Selectively regulating genes is an important goal in Chemical Biology. We report the development of a peptide-based synthetic transcription factor which binds the targeted DNA sequence with high affinity and single base-pair discrimination capability. When delivered inside a tumor cell, it regulated targeted genes selectively and inhibited cell proliferation.