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BRCA1-hapoinsufficiency: Unraveling the molecular and cellular basis for tissue-specific cancer |
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| Authors: | Maja Sedic |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Developmental, Chemical, and Molecular Biology, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;2. Raymond and Beverly Sackler Convergence Laboratory, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA;3. Molecular Oncology Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA |
| Abstract: | Over the past 20 years tremendous progress has been made in understanding the function of BRCA1 gene products. Yet one question still remains: why is mutation of BRCA1 typically associated with preferential development of breast and ovarian cancers and not tumors in other tissues? Here we discuss recent evidence documenting the effect of BRCA1-haploinsufficiency in different cells and tissues and synthesize a model for how mutations in a single BRCA1 allele in human cells might preferentially confer increased cancer risk in breast epithelial cells. |
| Keywords: | BRCA1 haploinsufficiency tumor suppression |