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Breast cancer protein gets lost.


Location, location, location Location, Location, Location is a popular Channel 4 property programme, presented by Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer. The reality show follows two real estate experts as they try to find the perfect home for a different set of buyers each week. It first aired in May 2001. . That's the mantra chanted by owners of shops and restaurants, who understand that where they situate a business is vital to success.

The same rule holds for most cellular proteins. To function properly, some proteins must reside in the cell's membrane, some in the nucleus, and others in the watery fluid in between, the cytoplasm cytoplasm: see protoplasm.
cytoplasm

Portion of a eukaryotic cell outside the nucleus. The cytoplasm contains all the organelles (see eukaryote).
. In the wrong location, a protein can place the cell at risk.

A new study now suggests that one tragic outcome of a misplaced mis·place  
tr.v. mis·placed, mis·plac·ing, mis·plac·es
1.
a. To put into a wrong place: misplace punctuation in a sentence.

b.
 protein is breast or ovarian cancer. Last year, researchers finally tracked down a gene called BRCA BRCA  

One of two genes (designated BRCA1 and BRCA2) that help repair damage to DNA, but when inherited in a defective state increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
1 that had been implicated im·pli·cate  
tr.v. im·pli·cat·ed, im·pli·cat·ing, im·pli·cates
1. To involve or connect intimately or incriminatingly: evidence that implicates others in the plot.

2.
 in breast and ovarian cancers (SN: 11/5/94, p.298). But while mutations in this gene account for large percentages of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, BRCA1 is almost always normal in nonfamilial incidences of these cancers, which form the large majority of cases.

In these cases, the gene may be fine, but the protein it encodes has gone astray, a team of researchers led by Wen-Hwa Lee of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio UTHSCSA is the largest comprehensive health sciences university in South Texas. Located in the South Texas Medical Center, it serves San Antonio and all of the 50,000 square mile (130,000 km²) area of central and south Texas.  asserts in the Nov. 3 Science. Using antibodies that bind to BRCA1's protein, Lee and his coworkers discovered that it normally resides in the nucleus.

Yet when they examined 20 populations of cells derived originally from breast or ovarian cancers, the researchers noted that the protein appeared either in the cytoplasm or in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Similar results came from a study of cells obtained directly from breast and ovarian tumors.

These data suggest that most nonfamilial cases of breast and ovarian cancer result from problems with BRCA1's protein, Lee's group says. Mutations that cause these sporadic cases may actually occur in genes necessary for the proper localization Customizing software and documentation for a particular country. It includes the translation of menus and messages into the native spoken language as well as changes in the user interface to accommodate different alphabets and culture. See internationalization and l10n.  of the protein, not in BRCA1 itself, they explain.

If these findings are confirmed, they could provide a new way of determining who is at risk of breast and ovarian cancers. Instead of looking for genetic mutations, physicians might examine where in cells BRCA1's protein resides.
COPYRIGHT 1995 Science Service, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1995, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Science News
Article Type:Brief Article
Date:Nov 18, 1995
Words:338
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