Analysis of H2AX protein abundance in human breast cancer cells (360G-Wellcome-206962_Z_17_Z)

The integrity and stability of the genetic information is essential to life, however, DNA is continuously being damaged, either as a result of normal cellular processes or via the environment. Each cell receives thousands of DNA lesions per day and if these lesions are not repaired, or are repaired incorrectly, they can lead to mutations that can threaten cell or organism viability and ultimately cause cancer. In order to detect and repair the various forms of DNA damage, cells have developed a mechanism known as the DNA damage response. This project aims to better understand the role of an important protein component of the DNA damage response, H2AX, in breast cancer. We aim to measure H2AX protein abundance in several breast cancer cell lines and to identify if there is a link between the abundance of H2AX in breast cancer patients with different disease subtypes, such as luminal or basal/triple-negative. H2AX expression and protein abundance is potentially an important biomarker for breast cancer and here we aim to optimise methodologies so that small samples taken at biopsy can be measured. Furthering our knowledge of the DNA damage response in cancer cells is important to understand disease progression and treatment.