Synthetic lethality and mutation in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes
Research team:
Gene Function and Regulation SubteamProject Summary
Our work with PARP inhibitors has led us to attempt to identify in a high-throughput manner, further targets that confer synthetic lethality on BRCA deficient cells. We are approaching this problem by screening a series of BRCA deficient and isogenically matched wild type cells with either small molecule inhibitor libraries, clinical compound libraries or by the use of large RNA interference (RNAi) libraries. We have identified several compounds, drugs and genes that selectively kill BRCA deficient cells and are currently in the process of characterizing these further.
Biography
Hartmut did his undergraduate studies at the Universities of Bonn (Germany), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Barts and The London School of Medicine. He has a medical degree from Bonn University. He performed his post graduate training at a number of London hospitals and became a Specialist Registrar in Medical Oncology at St George’s Hospital in Tooting and later Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. In 2004 he joined the Breakthrough Research Centre as the first ‘Dr Avon’, where he is pursuing a PhD in Molecular Oncology in Professor Ashworth’s laboratory. His special interests are the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA2 and novel therapies for metastatic breast cancer.
Contact
Hartmut.Kristeleit@icr.ac.uk 
