DNA discovery opens new door to develop tools, therapies for hereditary cancers (in research)

"....Errors in DNA can arise from many types of damage including external harm, such as UV radiation or carcinogens, as well as by intrinsic cellular processes such as DNA replication. Failure to correct these errors leads to mutations, which results in cancer or a number of severe genetic disorders."

“The reason why it can lead to cancer is because if you don’t have mismatch repair proteins that correct these errors, you’re going to accumulate mutations,” said Guarné. “People with defective mismatch repair genes develop cancers at very early ages. You would see a family that in their 30s has colorectal cancer and in their 40s they have it again. There’s no way you can prevent that – you can’t correct your DNA. As you grow older, you’re going to accumulate mutations.”

MicroRNA (miR-155) Linked To Shut-Down Of DNA-Repair Genes

In research:

"The study, led by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, shows that microRNA-155 (miR-155) can inhibit the activity of genes that normally correct the damage when the wrong bases are paired in DNA.

The loss or silencing of these genes, which are called mismatch repair genes, causes inherited cancer-susceptibility syndromes and contributes to the progression of colorectal, uterine, ovarian and other cancers."

"Overall, Croce says, "Our findings suggest that miR-155 expression might be an important stratification factor in the prognosis and treatment of cancer patients and provide an additional analytical test for exploring the etiology of microsatellite-instability tumors when the standard tests do not provide a conclusive diagnosis."