In a new paper published today in Nature, researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have outlined the structure and function of a protein complex that is required to repair damaged DNA and protect against cancer.
Every time a cell replicates, mistakes can happen in the form of mutations, but specialized proteins exist to repair the damaged DNA.
People with mutations in a DNA repair protein called BRCA2 are predisposed to breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, which often develop at a young age. In the clinic, these cancers are treated with a drug that inhibits PARP, another protein needed for DNA repair.
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