hSSB1: A key regulator of genome stability and potential cancer therapeutic target
Maintaining genetic stability is essential to protect us from diseases such as cancer. It is also clear that once a cancer does form, it changes the genetic code to allow it to grow and evade drugs. This project will help to understand how these processes occur, providing insight into new ways to tackle cancer.
Cancer is the single biggest clinical problem facing the world. It has been estimated that by 2030 half of all deaths worldwide will be from cancer. Almost all of these cancers will have developed due to loss of genome stability. Defects in these pathways result in the accumulation of driver mutations, oncogene duplication or tumour suppressor loss.
This project will investigate hSSB1, one of the key proteins that functions to protect our genetic code from damage. We have already characterised the essential role of hSSB1 in repairing double strand DNA breaks and we will now explore the role of hSSB1 in repairing oxidised DNA. We shall also explore further the potential of hSSB1 as a therapeutic target and as a biomarker.
