REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Cancer Cell Biology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1612329
This article is part of the Research TopicTipping the Balance: DNA Replication and Repair Vulnerabilities in CancerView all 3 articles
Research progress on the role of the NEIL family in cancer
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sheng Jing Hospital Affiliated, China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 2Beijing Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China
- 3China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 4Department of Neurosurgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
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Cancer is the primary cause of death worldwide. Cancer occurrence and progression are closely associated with DNA damage repair. DNA glycosylases were the first enzymes to initiate base excision repair, and the Nei-like DNA glycolysase (NEIL) family has attracted increasing attention as an important component of DNA glycosylases. Here, we introduce the role of the NEIL family in the malignant biological behaviors of cancer, including cell proliferation, chemoradiotherapy resistance, invasion and migration, apoptosis, and stemness. Mechanisms affecting the expression of the NEIL protein family range from the transcriptional level and mRNA editing to the level of post-translational modification. Additionally, we emphasize the different functions of the NEIL family in various malignancies and present useful information that supports the hypothesis that the NEIL family could be a potential target in the treatment and diagnosis of various cancers.
Keywords: NEIL, Cancer, DNA, Glycosylases, malignancy, Treatment
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Ma, Zou, Wang and Dong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weiwei Dong, Department of Neurosurgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
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