Scientists solve breast and ovarian cancer genetic mystery

21-Jul-2015 - United Kingdom

Francis Crick Institute scientists, funded by Cancer Research UK, have solved a decades-old mystery and helped to unravel the genetic cause of some breast and ovarian cancers, according to new research published in Cell.

Following a five-year study in nematode worms, researchers have uncovered how key proteins can switch on a protein called RAD51, allowing it to repair cancer-causing DNA damage in cells.

Women with faulty RAD51 and BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are at higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. Scientists already knew how proteins produced by these genes work hand-in-hand to fix DNA damage, and why faults can lead to disease. Defects in protein cousins of RAD51 also increase the risk of these cancers. But scientists didn't know how. The team has now revealed how these protein cousins work to switch on RAD51 by changing its shape - which dramatically boosts its DNA-repair powers.

Dr Simon Boulton, lead author and group leader at the Francis Crick Institute, said: "These protein cousins - known as paralogs - have been an enigma for about 30 years. But now we know they are right at the heart of repairing cell damage and helping to stop breast and ovarian cancers developing. In fact they have as vital a role as the more well-known BRCA genes in preventing the disease.

"Knowing how these proteins work won't make an immediate difference to cancer patients, but it's another piece of the cancer jigsaw puzzle which could lead to more effective and kinder treatments in the future."

Original publication

Taylor, M.R.G., Špírek, M., Chaurasiya, K.R., Ward, J.D., Carzaniga, R., Yu, X., Egelman, E.H., Collinson, L.M., Rueda, D., Krejčí, L. and Boulton, S.J.; "Rad51 paralogs remodel pre-synaptic Rad51 filaments to stimulate homologous recombination."; Cell (2015).

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/153742/scientists-solve-breast-and-ovarian-cancer-genetic-mystery.html