This page was produced as an assignment for Genetics 677, an undergraduate course at UW-Madison.
Other Research Studies
Other MSH2 Mutations
In future studies, I would begin to more of the missense mutations that have been found, as opposed to just the common, likely deleterious missense mutations. I would also investigate nonsense mutation to see if all nonsense mutations result in MSH2 deficiency. Comparing HNPCC patient status between countries instead of continents may also provide more information.
MSH2 Interaction with BRCA1 and P53
Figure 1. Shows the human MSH2 protein interaction network.
In the midst of my MSH2 research, I found that MSH2 not only interacts with other DNA mismatch repair proteins, but also with tumor suppressors as well. I find this very interesting. I decided to focus my attention to MSH2 itself, but research seems warranted to investigate the role of the tumor suppressor genes BRCA1 and P53 in HNPCC and related cancers, as well as to investigate the role of MSH2 in breast cancer and P53 related cancers.
Questions to consider:
1) Is there a high co-occurrence of colon cancer and breast cancer?
2) Does lack of BRCA1 or P53 affect MSH2 function?