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The Role of Genetics in Breast and Reproductive Cancers pp 93–105Cite as

Recent Advances in Understanding the Cellular Functions of BRCA2

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Part of the book series: Cancer Genetics ((CANGENETICS))

Abstract

The positional cloning of BRCA2 at the end of 1995 unravelled a new gene encoding a very large protein of 3,418 amino acids (390 kDa) with no similarity to any known protein [1]. The function of BRCA1, which had been cloned 15 months earlier, was unknown and thus did not provide any clues regarding function of the BRCA2 protein. One year later, BRCA1 was reported to localize and immunoprecipitate with RAD51 [2]. This discovery shed light on the function of BRCA2, as BRCA2 was shown shortly thereafter to also bind RAD51 [3,4]. Subsequent studies of the cellular functions of these proteins have been remarkably informative [reviewed in 5].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France

    Sylvie Mazoyer

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  1. Sylvie Mazoyer
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Correspondence to Sylvie Mazoyer .

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  1. Division of Medical Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195-7720, U.S.A.

    Piri Welcsh

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Mazoyer, S. (2009). Recent Advances in Understanding the Cellular Functions of BRCA2. In: Welcsh, P. (eds) The Role of Genetics in Breast and Reproductive Cancers. Cancer Genetics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0477-5_5

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