Research group

Genome Stability and Tumourigenesis

Collaborators

Thanos Halazonetis – Université de Genève

 SYNTRAIN Network

Further activities

60 seconds with Florian Groelly

The Tarsounas group publish two outstanding papers

Research

Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 are found in familial and sporadic cancers. BRCA1/2 play key role in DNA damage response (DDR) by promoting homologous recombination (HR) and protecting stalled replication forks. My research projects aim to identify causes of DNA damage in cells lacking BRCA1/2 and to understand their consequences. Indeed, S phase DNA damage can be carried over and transmitted to daughter cells. As an example, we recently showed that BRCA2 loss causes micronuclei formation and activates a type I immune response (Reisländer et al., 2019). A current aspect of my research is to understand how BRCA2 protects from mitotic DNA breaks, and thus prevents micronuclei formation in healthy tissues. Ultimately, this would bring a better understanding of the role of BRCA1/2 and inform on new biomarkers or treatment strategies.

Reisländer, T., Lombardi, E.P.^#, Groelly, F.J.^# et al. BRCA2 abrogation triggers innate immune responses potentiated by treatment with PARP inhibitors. Nat Commun 10, 3143 (2019).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11048-5