Molecular pathways: Understanding the role of Rad52 in homologous recombination for therapeutic advancement Journal Article


Authors: Lok, B. H.; Powell, S. N.
Article Title: Molecular pathways: Understanding the role of Rad52 in homologous recombination for therapeutic advancement
Abstract: The Rad52 protein was largely ignored in humans and other mammals when the mouse knockout revealed a largely "no-effect" phenotype. However, using synthetic lethal approaches to investigate context-dependent function, new studies have shown that Rad52 plays a key survival role in cells lacking the function of the breast cancer type 1 susceptibility protein (BRCA1)-BRCA2 pathway of homologous recombination. Biochemical studies also showed significant differences between yeast and human Rad52 (hRad52), in which yeast Rad52 can promote strand invasion of replication protein A (RPA)-coated single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in the presence of Rad51 but hRad52 cannot. This results in the paradox of how is hRad52 providing Rad51 function: presumably there is something missing in the biochemical assays that exists in vivo, but the nature of this missing factor is currently unknown. Recent studies have suggested that Rad52 provides back-up Rad51 function for all members of the BRCA1-BRCA2 pathway, suggesting that Rad52 may be a target for therapy in BRCA pathway-deficient cancers. Screening for ways to inhibit Rad52 would potentially provide a complementary strategy for targeting BRCA-deficient cancers in addition to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. ©2012 AACR.
Journal Title: Clinical Cancer Research
Volume: 18
Issue: 23
ISSN: 1078-0432
Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research  
Date Published: 2012-12-01
Start Page: 6400
End Page: 6406
Language: English
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-11-3150
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC3513650
PUBMED: 23071261
DOI/URL:
Notes: --- - "Export Date: 2 January 2013" - "CODEN: CCREF" - "Source: Scopus"
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  1. Simon Nicholas Powell
    331 Powell
  2. Benjamin H Lok
    63 Lok