Cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled growth of cells of the body. At a molecular level cancer occurs when genetic material, the DNA that makes up our genes, is damaged. This results in mutations in our genes and allows the cells to grow abnormally.
Damaged DNA is usually recognized in cells of the body by a process known as the DNA damage response pathway and damage can be repaired by DNA repair enzymes. Normally this pathway prevent mutations, however the process sometimes goes wrong, or is not 100% efficient. One particular component of the DNA damage response pathway is a protein known as H2AX. This is part of a family of proteins known as histones, which are involved in compacting and regulating the DNA of our cells. We are interested in breast cancer and think that the amount of H2AX present in cancer cells will be different to the amount found in normal cells. We are going to investigate this idea further by studying the amount of H2AX in samples which has been collected from patients with breast cancer when they are undergoing surgery. We hope that our research will further the knowledge about H2AX, which is a key mediator of the DNA damage response pathway, and also give us more knowledge about the molecular characteristics of breast cancer cells. In the future we hope that this work will lead to potential diagnostic tools and also help doctors to prescribe ever better treatment options to cancer patients.
