Fig. 2

Synthetic lethal pathway: single pathway. a Single pathway concept. (i) A pathway performs an essential survival function to maintain cell survival; Protein complex A2 formed by the joint expression of multiple genes (S1, S2, S3, etc.) is an essential factor of this pathway. (ii) Abnormality (mutation, overexpression, or inhibited) of two or more genes in the complex leads the cell death, while only one mutated gene of the complex is viable. b Examples of the SWI/SNF complex. (i) Mutation of the ARID1A subunit of the SWI/SNF complex may turn normal cells into cancers like ovarian cancer and tumor cells still survive. (ii) Inhibition of ARID1B, another subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, will cause the complex collapse and synthetic lethality. Star shape of genes represents a mutation; syringe represents inhibitors; viable cells are depicted as ovals; and inviable cells are depicted as random shapes