BRCA Biological Functions

BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes encode proteins that have important roles in DNA repair and act as tumor suppressors. Though the sequence and structure of the proteins produced by BRCA1 and BRCA2 are different, they have similar biological activities. Both BRCA gene products are reported to interact with the RAD51 protein, which is essential for DNA repair through homologous recombination. BRCA gene mutations are associated with an increased risk of solid tumors. Their ubiquitously expressed protein products are involved in essential cellular functions. The defect caused by BRCA gene mutations might be leveraged to develop new targeted cancer treatments. This chapter outlines that BRCA1 and BRCA2 have unique roles in the pathways leading to DNA double-strand break repair and clinical findings show that BRCA genes play a crucial role in a variety of biological processes

A review on upregulation of glucokinase expression by selected plants and their phytoconstituents

Glucokinase is, an allosteric enzyme involved in glycolysis, is rapidly regulated in the liver through glucokinase regulatory protein and remains essential for blood glucose homeostasis. The present review provides brief information about the effects of a few selected plants and phytochemicals on human glucokinase activation and gene modulation. A thorough and relevant literature search from several scientific databases, comprising Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed, was carried out. We highlighted the  seven plants (Acorus tatariowii Schott, Allium hirtifolium Boiss, Apache red maize, Mulberry species, Pterocarpus marsupium, Sapium ellepticum, Mangifera indica) and their phytoconstituents ( Tatanans A-C, alliogenin , gitogenin , kaempferol , quercetin and shallomin,1-deoxynojirimycin,cyanidin-3-rutinoside,resveratrol,cyanidin-3-glucoside,oxyresveratrol, lupeol, alpha-tocopherol, uteolin-7-glucoside, amentoflavone, and  Mangiferin) on human glucokinase enzyme activation  and gene modulation. This review concluded that investigation of glucokinase activators of plant origin is the major research focus in the management of type 2 diabetes