The antitumor agent doxorubicin binds to Fanconi anemia group F protein

Doxorubicin, a commonly used cancer chemotherapy agent, elicits several potent biological effects, including synergistic-antitumor activity in combination with cisplatin. However, the mechanism of this synergism remains obscure. Here, we employed an improved T7 phage display screening method to identify Fanconi anemia group F protein (FANCF) as a doxorubicin-binding protein. The FANCF-doxorubicin interaction was confirmed by pull-down assay and SPR analysis. FANCF is a component of the Fanconi anemia complex, which monoubiquitinates D2 protein of Fanconi anemia group as a cellular response against DNA cross-linkers such as cisplatin. We observed that the monoubiquitination was inhibited by doxorubicin treatment.