675

BRCA2

BRCC2|BROVCA2|FACD|FAD|FAD1|FANCD|FANCD1|GLM3|PNCA2|XRCC11;breast cancer 2, early onset;BRCA2;breast cancer 2, early onset

BRCA1/BRCA2-containing complex, subunit 2|Fanconi anemia group D1 protein|breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene, early onset|breast cancer 2 tumor suppressor|breast cancer type 2 susceptibility protein

13q12.3

protein-coding

Risks of breast and ovarian cancer were determined for Ashkenazi Jewish women with inherited mutations in the tumor suppressor genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. We selected 1008 index cases, regardless of family history of cancer, and carried out molecular analysis across entire families. The lifetime risk of breast cancer among female mutation carriers was 82%, similar to risks in families with many cases. Risks appear to be increasing with time: Breast cancer risk by age 50 among mutation carriers born before 1940 was 24%, but among those born after 1940 it was 67%. Lifetime risks of ovarian cancer were 54% for BRCA1 and 23% for BRCA2 mutation carriers. Physical exercise and lack of obesity in adolescence were associated with significantly delayed breast cancer onset.

Phytoestrogens are natural compounds with anticancer, proliferation, differentiation, and chemopreventive effects, for which several mechanisms have been proposed. In the present study, modulation of Brca1 and Brca2 expression by different phytoestrogen-rich diets has been investigated in ovariectomized Wistar rats. Two hundred mammary glands were harvested in three independent experiments. Brca1 and Brca2 mRNAs were quantified by real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, and their proteins by immunohistochemistry. The first experiment compared the influence of different phytoestrogens [flax-seed, isoflavones (IFs), or rutin]. A 10% increase in Brca1 mRNA expression was shown after flax-seed consumption, whereas no variation was noted for Brca2 mRNA, nor for Brca1 and Brca2 proteins. In the second experiment, two soy IFs sources (Novasoy or Soylife) were given at different concentrations to the animals. Only Brca2 mRNA was increased and only at high doses. Finally, the effect of IFs was compared with that of estradiol. An increase in mRNA for both genes was noted after estradiol treatment and with the highest dose of IFs. In conclusion, our results show that IFs, given in the diet at different doses, are able to increase Brca1 and Brca2 mRNA in ovariectomized female Wistar rat. However, no variation in Brca1 or Brca2 protein expression was demonstrated, whatever the experimental conditions were.

BACKGROUND: Germ line mutations of the BRCA2 tumor suppressor gene with subsequent loss of the remaining wild-type BRCA2 allele have been identified in up to 35% of familial breast cancer cases. A high frequency of allelic loss at the BRCA2 gene locus has also been reported in a variety of sporadic epithelial tumors including oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), and sporadic head and neck SCC. AIM: The present study aimed to examine the integrity of the BRCA2 gene in cutaneous SCC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Allelic imbalance/loss of heterozygosity (AI/LOH) was examined in 22 histologically confirmed cutaneous SCC at two microsatellite markers, D13S260 (centromeric to the BRCA2 gene) and D13S267 (telomeric to the BRCA2 gene). Immunohistochemical analysis of BRCA2 protein expression was also examined in the cutaneous SCC. RESULTS: AI/LOH at the D13S260 locus was found in eight of the 19 informative SCC, and AI/LOH at the D13S267 locus was found in 12 of the 18 informative SCC. Seven SCC showed allelic loss at both markers, and six SCC showed retention of heterozygosity at both markers. expression of BRCA2 protein was only detected in six of the normal epidermises and three of the 21 SCC examined. CONCLUSION: AI/LOH of the BRCA2 gene region was found to be common in the cutaneous SCC.

PURPOSE: Prostate cancer risk is increased for men carrying a pathogenic germline mutation in BRCA2, and perhaps BRCA1. Our primary aim was to test for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the locus of the mutation in prostate cancers from men who a carry pathogenic germline mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2, and to assess clinical and pathologic features of these tumors. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: From 1,243 kConFab families: (a) 215 families carried a pathogenic BRCA1 mutation, whereas 188 families carried a pathogenic BRCA2 mutation; (b) of the 158 men diagnosed with prostate cancer (from 137 families), 8 were confirmed to carry the family-specific BRCA1 mutation, whereas 20 were confirmed to carry the family-specific BRCA2 mutation; and (c) 10 cases were eliminated from analysis because no archival material was available. The final cohort comprised 4 and 14 men with a BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation, respectively. We examined LOH at the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes using multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification of DNA from microdissected tumor. RESULTS: LOH at BRCA2 was observed in 10 of 14 tumors from BRCA2 mutation carriers (71%), whereas no LOH at BRCA1 was observed in four tumors from BRCA1 mutation carriers (P = 0.02). Under the assumption that LOH occurs only because the cancer was caused by the germline mutation, carriers of BRCA2 mutations are at 3.5-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.8-12) increased risk of prostate cancer. A high Gleason was the only distinct clinical feature. CONCLUSIONS: These observations are consistent with the idea that BRCA2, but not BRCA1, is a tumor suppressor of prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Only 5% of all breast cancers are the result of BRCA1/2 mutations. Methylation silencing of tumor suppressor genes is well described in sporadic breast cancer; however, its role in familial breast cancer is not known. METHODS: CpG island promoter methylation was tested in the initial random periareolar fine-needle aspiration sample from 109 asymptomatic women at high risk for breast cancer. Promoter methylation targets included RARB (M3 and M4), ESR1, INK4a/ARF, BRCA1, PRA, PRB, RASSF1A, HIN-1, and CRBP1. RESULTS: Although the overall frequency of CpG island promoter methylation events increased with age (P<0.0001), no specific methylation event was associated with age. In contrast, CpG island methylation of RARB M4 (P=0.051), INK4a/ARF (P=0.042), HIN-1 (P=0.044), and PRA (P=0.032), as well as the overall frequency of methylation events (P=0.004), was associated with abnormal Masood cytology. The association between promoter methylation and familial breast cancer was tested in 40 unaffected premenopausal women in our cohort who underwent BRCA1/2 mutation testing. Women with BRCA1/2 mutations had a low frequency of CpG island promoter methylation (15 of 15 women had mutation showed a high frequency of promoter methylation events (24 of 25 women had 5-8 methylation events; P<0.0001). Of women with a BRCA1/2 mutation, none showed methylation of HIN-1 and only 1 of 15 women showed CpG island methylation of RARB M4, INK4a/ARF, or PRB promoters. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first evidence of CpG island methylation of tumor suppressor gene promoters in non-BRCA1/2 familial breast cancer.

Germline mutations in the tumor-suppressor gene BRCA2 predispose to breast and ovarian cancer. BRCA2 plays a well-established role in maintaining genome stability by regulating homologous recombination. BRCA2 has more recently been implicated in cytokinesis, the final step of cell division, but the molecular basis for this remains unknown. We have used time-lapse microscopy, recently developed cytokinesis assays and BAC recombineering (bacterial artificial chromosome recombinogenic engineering) to investigate the function and localization of BRCA2 during cell division. Our analysis suggests that BRCA2 does not regulate cytokinesis in human cells. Thus, cytokinesis defects are unlikely to contribute to chromosomal instability and tumorigenesis in BRCA2-related cancers.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is one of the most common diseases affecting women. Inherited susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, are considered in breast, ovarian and other common cancers etiology. BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have been identified that confer a high degree of breast cancer risk. OBJECTIVE: Our study was performed to identify germline mutations in some exons of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for the early detection of presymptomatic breast cancer in females. METHODS: This study was applied on Egyptian healthy females who first degree relatives to those, with or without a family history, infected with breast cancer. Sixty breast cancer patients, derived from 60 families, were selected for molecular genetic testing of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. The study also included 120 healthy first degree female relatives of the patients, either sisters and/or daughters, for early detection of presymptomatic breast cancer mutation carriers. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes of all the studied subjects. Universal primers were used to amplify four regions of the BRCA1 gene (exons 2,8,13 and 22) and one region (exon 9) of BRCA2 gene using specific PCR. The polymerase chain reaction was carried out. Single strand conformation polymorphism assay and heteroduplex analysis were used to screen for mutations in the studied exons. In addition, DNA sequencing of the normal and mutated exons were performed. RESULTS: mutations in both BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes were detected in 86.7% of the families. Current study indicates that 60% of these families were attributable to BRCA1 mutations, while 26.7% of them were attributable to BRCA2 mutations. Results showed that four mutations were detected in the BRCA1 gene, while one mutation was detected in the BRCA2 gene. Asymptomatic relatives, 80 (67%) out of total 120, were mutation carriers. CONCLUSIONS: BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes mutations are responsible for a significant proportion of breast cancer. BRCA mutations were found in individuals with and without family history.

Individuals with BRCA2 mutations are predisposed to breast cancers owing to genome instability. To determine the functions of BRCA2, the human protein was purified. It was found to bind selectively to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), and to ssDNA in tailed duplexes and replication fork structures. Monomeric and dimeric forms of BRCA2 were observed by EM. BRCA2 directed the binding of RAD51 recombinase to ssDNA, reduced the binding of RAD51 to duplex DNA and stimulated RAD51-mediated DNA strand exchange. These observations provide a molecular basis for the role of BRCA2 in the maintenance of genome stability.

Inherited mutations in the tumor suppressor BRCA2 are predisposed to pancreatic adenocarcinomas, which carry activating mutations in the KRAS oncogene in more than 95% of cases, as well as frequent TP53 inactivation. Here, we have established an RNA interference (RNAi) screen to identify genes whose depletion selectively inhibits the growth of cells lacking BRCA2, and then studied the effects of the genetic depletion or pharmacologic inhibition of 1 candidate, the checkpoint kinase 1 (CHK1), in the context of pancreatic cancer. Pharmacologic inhibition of CHK1 using small-molecule inhibitors (CHK1i) reduced cell growth in several cell lines depleted of BRCA2. Unexpectedly, these drugs did not suppress the growth of BRCA2-deficient pancreatic cancer cell lines from humans or gene-targeted mice expressing active Kras and trans-dominant inhibitory mutant Trp53. Remarkably, the expression of KRAS(G12V) and TP53(G154V) in BRCA2-depleted HEK293 cells was sufficient to render them resistant to CHK1i (but not to mitomycin C or inhibitors of PARP1). CHK1i sensitivity was restored by gemcitabine, an S-phase genotoxin used to treat pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Thus, the growth-suppressive effect of CHK1 inhibition in BRCA2-mutant tumors can be opposed by concurrent KRAS activation and TP53 mutations typical of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and CHK1i resistance in this setting can be overcome by gemcitabine. Our findings show that approaches that use potential therapeutic targets for cancer identified in synthetic lethal RNAi screens are affected by the genetic context of specific malignancies and combination therapy with other agents. This concept should be taken into account in the ongoing and future development of targeted cancer therapies.

The inactivation of BRCA2, a suppressor of breast, ovarian and other epithelial cancers, triggers instability in chromosome structure and number, which are thought to arise from defects in DNA recombination and mitotic cell division, respectively. Human BRCA2 controls DNA recombination via eight BRC repeats, evolutionarily conserved motifs of approximately 35 residues, that interact directly with the recombinase RAD51. How BRCA2 controls mitotic cell division is debated. Several studies by different groups report that BRCA2 deficiency affects cytokinesis. Moreover, its interaction with HMG20b, a protein of uncertain function containing a promiscuous DNA-binding domain and kinesin-like coiled coils, has been implicated in the G2-M transition. We show here that HMG20b depletion by RNA interference disturbs the completion of cell division, suggesting a novel function for HMG20b. In vitro, HMG20b binds directly to the BRC repeats of BRCA2, and exhibits the highest affinity for BRC5, a motif that binds poorly to RAD51. Conversely, the BRC4 repeat binds strongly to RAD51, but not to HMG20b. In vivo, BRC5 overexpression inhibits the BRCA2-HMG20b interaction, recapitulating defects in the completion of cell division provoked by HMG20b depletion. In contrast, BRC4 inhibits the BRCA2-RAD51 interaction and the assembly of RAD51 at sites of DNA damage, but not the completion of cell division. Our findings suggest that a novel function for HMG20b in cytokinesis is regulated by its interaction with the BRC repeats of BRCA2, and separate this unexpected function for the BRC repeats from their known activity in DNA recombination. We propose that divergent tumor-suppressive pathways regulating chromosome segregation as well as chromosome structure may be governed by the conserved BRC motifs in BRCA2.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for most cases of familial, early onset breast and/or ovarian cancer and encode products that each interact with hRAD51. Results presented here show that BRCA1 and BRCA2 coexist in a biochemical complex and colocalize in subnuclear foci in somatic cells and on the axial elements of developing synaptonemal complexes. Like BRCA1 and RAD51, BRCA2 relocates to PCNA+ replication sites following exposure of S phase cells to hydroxyurea or UV irradiation. Thus, BRCA1 and BRCA2 participate, together, in a pathway(s) associated with the activation of double-strand break repair and/or homologous recombination. Dysfunction of this pathway may be a general phenomenon in the majority of cases of hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer.