Abstract
We have analyzed 20 breast-ovarian cancer families, the majority of which show positive evidence of linkage to chromosome 17q12, for germ-line mutations in the BRCA1 gene. BRCA1 mutations cosegregating with breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility were identified in 16 families, including 1 family with a case of male breast cancer. Nine of these mutations have not been reported previously. The majority of mutations were found to generate a premature stop codon leading to the formation of a truncated BRCA1 protein of 2%-88% of the expected normal length. Two mutations altered the RING finger domain. Sequencing of genomic DNA led to the identification of a mutation in the coding region of BRCA1 in 12 families, and cDNA analysis revealed an abnormal or missing BRCA1 transcript in 4 of the 8 remaining families. A total of eight mutations were associated with a reduced quantity of BRCA1 transcript. We were unable to detect BRCA1 mutations in 4 of the 20 families, but only 1 of these was clearly linked to BRCA1. It is expected that the majority of clear examples of the breast-ovarian cancer syndrome will be associated with germ-line mutations in the coding region of BRCA1.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 42-51 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | American journal of human genetics |
Volume | 58 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - 1996 |
Externally published | Yes |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Genetics
- Genetics(clinical)