From 2007.igem.org

Doxrubicin is a widely used drug to treat cancer. However one main limitation of its use is cardiotoxicity. Accumulated dose of doxrubicin can cause oxidative stress to cardiomyocytes and trigger apoptosis. Our goal is to up-regulate bcl-2 (a pro-survival protein) and prevent cells from dying under mild stress. We have designed an inducible artificial transcription factor (ATF) that binds to bcl-2 promoter. Currently we are studying cell fate regulation using ATF in mouse fibroblast cells.