Defining the contributions of BRCA1, BRCA2, and RAD52 to genome stability

Project Narrative Homologous recombination is a DNA repair pathway, which plays crucial roles in genetic disorders, cancer and aging. Several tumor suppressor proteins are now known to participate in homologous recombination, and defects in these proteins are broadly associated with human cancers. Included among these are BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are key proteins involved in the early stages of homologous recombination, and are frequently mutated in hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. To help extend our understanding of how BRCA1 and BRCA2 participate in homologous recombination we have developed a powerful new experimental platform based on state-of-the-art optical microscopy that enables us to directly observe the proteins that participate in homologous recombination in real time. These powerful new research tools allow us to address questions in cancer research that cannot be tackled with more traditional experimental approaches.