Mutations in the BRCA2 gene greatly increase a woman’s lifetime risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. The BRCA2 gene provides the instructions necessary to make a tumor suppressor protein that prevents cells from growing and dividing too rapidly. It is well understood that mutations in this gene cause failures in the creation of this protein, but how that leads to cancer and which mutations are most consequential has been unclear.
In his WHRY study, Ryan Jensen, PhD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, created the first visualization of the full-length BRCA2 protein at the single molecule level. This visualization allowed Dr. Jensen, and others, to understand exactly how the BRCA2 protein binds and interacts with DNA, one molecule at a time.
Dr. Jensen’s visualization sheds critical light on how BRCA2’s DNA repair function works and where cancer-susceptible mutations occur. These new data are now being used to generate new diagnostic and treatment strategies.
Results from Dr. Jensen’s WHRY study have been published in two journals: Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences and eLife.
In their WHRY Pilot Project Sarah Lowe, PhD, Associate Professor of Public Health and of Psychiatry, and Robert Pietrzak, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and of Public Health, determined gender-specific risk for stress-related psychological symptoms (SRPS) in frontline health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their study found women were more than twice as likely as men to screen positive for one or more SRPS disorders – which include major depressive, generalized anxiety, and posttraumatic stress
disorders. This type of finding can suggest women are more vulnerable to stress-related emotional disorders.
However, further analysis showed this gender difference was fully eliminated when co-occurring stress was considered for women and men. The researchers indicate these findings point to the importance of recognizing gender inequities in work settings and home-based caregiving responsibilities and how a new stressor may exacerbate ongoing stress to increase the likelihood of SRPS. The study, co-authored with Dr. Mazure and MD, PhD candidate Rachel Hennein, was published inJournal of Psychiatric Research.