Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 6, 2025

Detecting Somatic Genetic Alterations in Tumor Specimens by Exon Capture and Massively Parallel Sequencing
Published on: October 18, 2013
RecQ Helicase Somatic Alterations in Cancer
Megha K Thakkar1, Jamie Lee1, Stefan Meyer2,3
1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Abstract:
Named the "caretakers" of the genome, RecQ helicases function in several pathways to maintain genomic stability and repair DNA. This highly conserved family of enzymes consist of five different proteins in humans: RECQL1, BLM, WRN, RECQL4, and RECQL5. Biallelic germline mutations in BLM, WRN, and RECQL4 have been linked to rare cancer-predisposing syndromes. Emerging research has also implicated somatic alterations in RecQ helicases in a variety of cancers, including hematological malignancies, breast cancer, osteosarcoma, amongst others. These alterations in RecQ helicases, particularly overexpression, may lead to increased resistance of cancer cells to conventional chemotherapy. Downregulation of these proteins may allow for increased sensitivity to chemotherapy, and, therefore, may be important therapeutic targets. Here we provide a comprehensive review of our current understanding of the role of RecQ DNA helicases in cancer and discuss the potential therapeutic opportunities in targeting these helicases.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
DNA Helicases
DNA Damage can Stall the Cell Cycle
Homologous Recombination
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
Fixing Double-strand Breaks

