Common chemicals found in everyday items such as furniture, cosmetics, shampoos and alcohol can increase the risk of cancer, a new study led by an Indian- origin scientist warns. Aldehydes are a class of chemicals made in our own bodies in small quantities but increasingly found everywhere in our environment. Exposure to these chemicals has previously been linked with cancer, but the reasons for the link remain unclear.
Researchers, led by Professor Ashok Venkitaraman from the University of Cambridge in the UK, used genetically-engineered human cells and cells from patients bearing a faulty copy of the breast cancer gene BRCA2 to identify the mechanism by which exposure to aldehydes could promote cancer. Damage to our DNA, which arises frequently as cells in our bodies divide, can lead to the development of cancers, but our body has its own defence mechanism that helps repair this damage.
However, researchers found that aldehyde exposure breaks down this defence mechanisms even in normal healthy cells, but people who have inherited a faulty copy of BRCA2 are particularly sensitive to such damage. Everyone is born with two copies of most genes. People who inherit a single faulty copy of the BRCA2 gene are susceptible to cancer. The reason behind this is not fully understood, because their cells should be able to repair DNA using the lower - but still adequate - levels of BRCA2 protein made from the remaining, intact copy of the gene. The new study, published in the journal Cell, shows that aldehydes trigger the degradation of BRCA2 protein in cells. PTI
