Sunday, July 29, 2007

Breast Cancer and the FOXP3 and HER-2 Genes

A EurekAlert article entitled 'U-M researchers identify gene involved in breast cancer' discusses a link between breast cancer and a gene known as FOXP3 which is known to suppress the growth of tumors.

Given the fact that single mutations, altering the protein coded for by the FOXP3 gene, have been known to have adverse affects, researchers have concluded that FOXP3 has a role in preventing breast cancer and may do this by its influence on the expression of another gene known as HER-2. As the linked article indicates the HER-2 gene function entails such cellular activities as cellular growth, cell division and repair. An excess of HER-2 proteins may be a contributing factor to the development of breast cancer.

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