Biallelic inactivation of BRCA2 in Fanconi anemia.

Journal: Science (New York, N.Y.)
Published:
Abstract

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare autosomal recessive cancer susceptibility disorder characterized by cellular hypersensitivity to mitomycin C (MMC). Six FA genes have been cloned, but the gene or genes corresponding to FA subtypes B and D1 remain unidentified. Here we show that cell lines derived from FA-B and FA-D1 patients have biallelic mutations in BRCA2 and express truncated BRCA2 proteins. Functional complementation of FA-D1 fibroblasts with wild-type BRCA2 complementary DNA restores MMC resistance. Our results link the six cloned FA genes with BRCA1 and BRCA2 in a common pathway. Germ-line mutation of genes in this pathway may result in cancer risks similar to those observed in families with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

Authors
Niall Howlett, Toshiyasu Taniguchi, Susan Olson, Barbara Cox, Quinten Waisfisz, Christine De Die Smulders, Nicole Persky, Markus Grompe, Hans Joenje, Gerard Pals, Hideyuki Ikeda, Edward Fox, Alan D'andrea