However, recent studies not only identify new functions for BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the regulation of transcription and RNA processing potentially relevant to their tumour suppressive activity, but also suggest that monoallelic BRCA2 gene mutations suffice for carcinogenesis.
The exact mechanisms of carcinogenesis due to BRCA2 haploinsufficiency remain unclear, but one possibility is that at-risk cells are subject to acute periods of decreased BRCA2 availability and function ("BRCA2-crisis"), which may contribute to disease.
We show that the human tumor suppressor BRCA2 interacts with RNAPII to regulate PPP release, thereby preventing unscheduled RNA-DNA hybrids (R-loops) implicated in genomic instability and carcinogenesis.
The present study aimed to elucidate the expression profiles, mutations and interaction networks of BRCA1 and BRCA2, which may provide insights to reveal the mechanisms of BRCA genes ultimately leading to breast or ovarian tumorigenesis.
Together, our findings identify deubiquitination as a means to regulate BRCA2 function and point to USP21 as a potential therapeutic target in BRCA2-proficient tumors.BRCA2 is essential for the repair of DNA damage; therefore, defects in BRCA2 are associated with tumorigenesis but also with increased susceptibility to genotoxic stress.
These findings suggest a model wherein carcinogenesis in BRCA2 mutation carriers can be incited by compounds found pervasively in the environment and generated endogenously in certain tissues with implications for public health.
Humans with inherited heterozygous BRCA2 mutations have an increased risk of developing cancer; however, what triggers carcinogenesis in these individuals is unclear.Tan et al. find that environmental and metabolic aldehydes pose a threat to these individuals by promoting degradation of wild-type BRCA2 protein, thereby predisposing them to genomic instability and perhaps to cancer.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of expression of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins in sporadic breast cancer cases to determine the functional role of these genes in breast carcinogenesis.
Yet, the pathogenic and functional effect of many germline mutations in BRCA2 remains undetermined, and the heterogeneity of BRCA2-associated tumors challenges the identification of causative variants that drive tumorigenesis.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are critical in homologous recombination DNA repair and have been implicated in familial breast and ovarian cancer tumorigenesis.
These studies not only surprisingly show that BRCA2 does not follow the classical Knudson "two hit" paradigm for tumour suppression, but also highlight features of the interplay between TP53 inactivation and carcinogenesis in the context of BRCA2 deficiency.
This study reveals an elaborate but highly organized molecular interplay between Rad51 regulators and has significant implications for understanding tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance in patients with BRCA2 deficiency.
To determine the relationship between germline heterozygous mutation (haploinsufficiency) and somatic loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for BRCA2 and TP53 in carcinogenesis, we analyzed zebrafish with heritable mutations in these two genes.
While sequencing of a select number of triple negative, basal-like FMAs and testing for loss of heterozygosity of BRCA1 and BRCA2 did not identify mutations similar to those described in human TNBC, further in-depth evaluation is required to elucidate a potential role of BRCA in the tumorigenesis of triple negative, basal-like FMAs.
There is increasing evidence that serum biomarkers human Kallikrein 2, early prostate cancer antigen, urokinase-type plasminogen activator/urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor, transforming growth factor-β1 and interleukin-6/interleukin-6 receptor and genetic biomarkers BRCA1 and BRCA2, Phosphatase and tensin homolog, cellular myelocytomatosis oncogene and NKX3.1 may predict for aggressive high grade disease and are identifiable early in prostate carcinogenesis.
• Although HGPIN is considered a precursor to cancer, as no LOH was observed, this assay does not provide a genetic marker that may be considered a positive predictor of tumorigenesis in BRCA2 carriers.