Sensitizing Cancer Cells: Is It Really All about U?

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Hu et al. report that TMPK and RNR, two key enzymes in deoxyribonucleotide biosynthesis, co-localize to damaged DNA and produce nucleotides necessary for DNA repair while suppressing uracil incorporation. TMPK inhibition disrupts this balance and selectively sensitizes cancer cells to low-dose chemotherapy.