Red Wine Compound Inhibits Some Types of Inherited Breast Cancer

Cancer researchers have found that resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant found in red wine and some other foods, had a potent tumor suppressing effect on cancer cells with mutant breast cancer associated gene-1 (BRCA1).

BRCA1 is the most frequently mutated tumor suppressor gene found in inherited breast cancers, and BRCA1 mutation carriers have a 50-80% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70.

In a paper published in the October 10, 2008, issue of the journal Molecular Cell investigators at the [U.S.] National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD, USA) showed that there was an intricate relationship between BRCA1 and two "downstream" proteins, SIRT1 and Survivin. SIRT1 is a histone deacetylase involved in numerous critical cell processes including DNA repair apoptosis. Survivin, which may serve to maintain the tumor and promote growth, is an apoptosis inhibitor that is dramatically elevated in many types of tumors.
Data obtained in the current study showed that mutated (and nonfunctional) BRCA1 allowed a decrease in cellular SIRT1 levels and an increase in the levels of Survivin. However, resveratrol enhanced SIRT1 activity, which reduced Survivin expression and triggered apoptosis of BRCA1 deficient cancer cells.

"Although work with animal models of BRCA1 mutation has provided some insight into the many biological processes linked with BRCA1, very little is known about the downstream mediators of BRCA1 function in tumor suppression," said senior author Dr. Chu-Xia Deng, senior geneticist at the National Institutes of Health. . "Resveratrol may serve as an excellent compound for targeted therapy for BRCA1 associated breast cancers."

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National Institutes of Health