British scientists have unveiled major findings about the way one of the key genetic causes of breast cancer works.
The faulty RAD51 gene is one of the major causes of breast and ovarian cancer.
The gene’s role is to repair DNA damage – but when it is faulty these repairs do not take place, allowing cancer to develop.
Now scientists have tracked the process back to other proteins, which are similar to those released by RAD51.
These "cousins" – or paralogs – were also known to increase cancer risk when defective.
The latest study shows how – when healthy – the proteins work with RAD51 to substantially boost its ability to repair DNA damage. They do this by changing its shape, according to the five-year long study of nematode worms, reported in the journal Cell.
Researcher Dr Simon Boulton, of the Francis Crick Institute, London, UK, 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.”
Nell Barrie, of Cancer Research UK, which backed the study, said: "This landmark discovery reveals another potential chink in cancer’s armour – and it could help lead to more personalised treatments that take patients’ genetic make-up into account and ultimately save more lives.”
Rad51 paralogs remodel pre-synaptic Rad51 filaments to stimulate homologous recombination. Cell 16 July 2015; doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2015.06.015
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