RAD51 homolog C, also known as RAD51C, is a protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

 which in humans is encoded by the RAD51C gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

.

Function

This gene is a member of the RAD51 family of related genes, which encode strand-transfer proteins thought to be involved in recombinational repair of damaged DNA and in meiotic recombination

Genetic recombination

Genetic recombination is a process by which a molecule of nucleic acid is broken and then joined to a different one. Recombination can occur between similar molecules of DNA, as in homologous recombination, or dissimilar molecules, as in non-homologous end joining. Recombination is a common method...

. This gene product interacts with two other DNA repair proteins, encoded by RAD51B and XRCC3

XRCC3

DNA repair protein XRCC3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the XRCC3 gene.-Further reading:...

, but not with itself. The protein copurifies with XRCC3 protein in a complex, reflecting their endogenous association and suggesting a cooperative role during recombinational repair. This gene is one of four localized to a region of chromosome 17q23 where amplification occurs frequently in breast tumors. Overexpression of the four genes during amplification has been observed and suggests a possible role in tumor progression. Alternative splicing

Alternative splicing

Alternative splicing is a process by which the exons of the RNA produced by transcription of a gene are reconnected in multiple ways during RNA splicing...

 has been observed for this gene and two variants encoding different isoform

Protein isoform

A protein isoform is any of several different forms of the same protein. Different forms of a protein may be produced from related genes, or may arise from the same gene by alternative splicing. A large number of isoforms are caused by single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs, small genetic...

s have been identified.

Clinical significance

A characteristic of many cancer cells is that parts of some genes contained within these cells have been recombined with other genes. One such gene fusion

Fusion gene

A fusion gene is a hybrid gene formed from two previously separate genes. It can occur as the result of a translocation, interstitial deletion, or chromosomal inversion...

 that has been identified in a MCF-7 breast cancer cell line is a chimera between the RAD51C and ATXN7

Ataxin 7

Ataxin 7 is a protein associated with both olivopontocerebellar atrophy type 3 and spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 .-External links:*...

genes. Since the RAD51C protein is involved in repairing double strand chromosome breaks, this chromosomal rearrangement could be responsible for the other rearrangements.

Interactions

RAD51C has been shown to interact

Protein-protein interaction

Protein–protein interactions occur when two or more proteins bind together, often to carry out their biological function. Many of the most important molecular processes in the cell such as DNA replication are carried out by large molecular machines that are built from a large number of protein...

 with XRCC3

XRCC3

DNA repair protein XRCC3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the XRCC3 gene.-Further reading:...

, XRCC2

XRCC2

DNA repair protein XRCC2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the XRCC2 gene.-Interactions:XRCC2 has been shown to interact with RAD51L3, Bloom syndrome protein and RAD51C.-Further reading:...

, RAD51L3

RAD51L3

DNA repair protein RAD51 homolog 4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RAD51L3 gene.-Interactions:RAD51L3 has been shown to interact with XRCC2, Bloom syndrome protein and RAD51C.-Further reading:...

 and RAD51L1

RAD51L1

DNA repair protein RAD51 homolog 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RAD51L1 gene.-Further reading:...

.

Further reading