N-Myristoyltransferase: A Novel Therapeutic Target for Cancer, Inflammation and Radiation Response Modifications

N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) is a well conserved monomeric protein that catalyzes myristoyl group transfer to various target proteins carrying consensus amino acid sequence motif GXXXS/T (where ‘X’ is any amino acid). NMT mediated myristoylation promotes protein-protein and protein-membrane interactions, leading to diverse signaling including cell proliferation, carcinogenesis, inflammation and immune responses. However, inter-networking linkage between NMT over-expression and protein myristoylation under oxidative stress coupled with inflammation and carcinogenesis is completely missing and needs further investigation. Various types of tumor and cancer tissue showed significant increase in NMT expression. Therefore, inhibition of NMT expression either by using chemical NMT inhibitors or gene silencing could be a promising approach in controlling carcinogenesis. Various scientific evidence suggests that NMT mediated myristoylation promotes membrane association of some cell cycle and cell proliferation regulatory proteins and thus may contribute to cell cycle regulation and cell survival homeostasis. Several NMT inhibitors have been evaluated and tested for their probable anticancer potential. Molecular linkage between oxidative stress and carcinogenesis has been established in several studies. In this review, the authors cover the role and therapeutic potential of NMT in cancer, inflammatory disease and radiation response modulation.