Researchers at Texas A&M University have now identified another gene that may have an impact on breast cancer—associated with the body’s circadian rhythm, reports News Medical.
Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM) professor Weston Porter and his team have found that Period 2 (Per2), a regulatory mechanism within each cell’s peripheral clock, plays a crucial function in mammalian mammary gland development and that when suppressed, Per2 leads to severely disrupted gland development in mice.
The findings, published in the scientific journal Development, add to a growing list that ties disruptions to our circadian rhythm–that is, the “central clock” mechanism in our brains–to a higher risk of cancer progression, obesity, some neuromuscular diseases, and other impairments, including jetlag.
