THURSDAY, Sept. 12, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Mutations in a protein called BRCA2 can lead to breast and ovarian cancers, says a study in tomorrow's issue of Science.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center researchers have uncovered the function of BRCA2 and the dangerous nature of mutations in the protein.
Previous research showed BRCA2 is a protective protein that prevents cancer development, but it wasn't clear how it did that. The researchers mapped out the structure of the BRCA2 protein and showed that it interacts directly with DNA to help repair genetic damage.
Left uncorrected, genetic damage can result in unstable chromosomes that can lead to cancer.
"If BRCA2 is altered or missing, it leads to a dangerous accumulation of genetic errors," says study senior author Nikola P. Pavletich, head of Sloan-Kettering's laboratory of structural biology of oncogenes and tumor.
"By studying the normal function of BRCA2, we can understand how changes in the protein contribute to the development of cancer," Pavletich says.
More information
Read more about the BRCA2 gene.
