Damage to the human DNA can cause unstable genetic
material and thus plays a main role in the
development of cancer. Therefore, a lot of
researchers are trying to learn from the cells' own
protection against DNA mutations. Among other
things, this is done by quickly and correctly
repairing DNA damage and thus avoiding tumor
development. For these serious damages, there are
two basic repair systems, but only one of them is
flawless. If this system is out of function, there
is increased risk of developing cancer following
from the DNA damage to which cells are constantly
exposed. Researcher discovered how the cell launches
the flawless system for serious DNA damage repair
and thus protects against cancer. This is done using
a protein 'scanner', which scans the histones in the
cell and on that basis launches the repair process,
said by lead researcher. The problem with the two
repair systems is that one is much easier and faster
for the cell to launch than the other, and therefore
the former is used more often. However, it does not
work as well as the latter. Here the two cut DNA
strings are merely glued back together. The protein
that acts like a scanner is called BARD1, and the
researchers have known for a long time that it works
like a so-called tumor suppressor. However, this is
the first discovery of BARD1's scanning function,
which tells the BRCA1 protein and thus the cell that
a flawless repair system can be launched. If
possible, it then launches the BRCA1 function that
plays such a vital role in cancer protection. The
flawless repair method is also referred to as a
homologous recombination. For part of its lifetime
the cell contains two identical DNA strings, as it
is getting ready to split. This means that the cell
actually holds the solution to its own damage. |