Copies of a gene linked to breast cancers
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Extra copies of a gene found in about a third of breast cancers may be responsible for the cancers’ unchecked growth and survival, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Cell.
The Harvard team found as many as 10 copies of the gene, called IKBKE, in some cancers.
Normal cells have two copies. The gene is a blueprint for a protein known as IKK-epsilon that acts as a control switch to help regulate cell growth.
When a cell has too many copies, it can make too much of the protein, overstimulating a series of growth signals and allowing the cell to resist death and proliferate inappropriately.
