Structural insights into BRCA2 function.

BRCA2 is a tumor suppressor directly implicated in familial breast cancer. Extensive genetic and biochemical characterization has shown that BRCA2 is involved in the maintenance of chromosomal stability and that it has an important role in recombination-mediated double-strand DNA break repair. Two recent structures of BRCA2 domains have revealed that it may serve as a critical mediator of DNA repair through direct interactions with Rad51, the eukaryotic homolog of RecA, and with single-stranded DNA. Before the structures were determined, little was known about the structural basis of BRCA2 interactions with the Rad51 pathway of DNA repair. Taken together, the structures provide striking insights into the role of BRCA2 in double-strand DNA break repair and suggest a direct role for BRCA2 in homologous recombination that was not evident from earlier studies.