Posted by 
Researchers have linked the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations with an increased risk of breast cancer, but researchers at Texas A&M University have now identified another gene that may have an impact on breast cancer, this is associated with the body’s circadian rhythm. 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 role in mammalian mammary gland development and that when suppressed, Per2 leads to severely disrupted gland development in mice.
Disruptions to human circadian rhythm-the “central clock” mechanism in human brains is linked to a higher risk of cancer progression, obesity, some neuromuscular diseases, and other impairments, including jetlag.
Circadian rhythm is controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the brain’s anterior hypothalamus. In addition to coordinating sleep patterns, the SCN coordinates the other peripheral clocks in human body, which run on a 24-hour cycle that corresponds with each day.
Waking up in the morning and seeing the light, triggers the brain and the molecular mechanism that regulates the (circadian rhythm) process. Researchers evaluated Per2, which provides the “negative feedback,” to the circadian rhythm process. The negative and positive feedback mechanisms are constantly in balance, going up and down. One’s up during the day, the other one’s up at night- they oscillate right at 24 hours and resets it in the morning.
Their finding that Per2 has a crucial function outside of timekeeping in mammalian mammary gland development where Per2 plays a role in cell differentiation and identity describes a potentially important role for Per2 in breast cancer. Per2 expression is lost in a large percentage of mammary tumors, which suggests it may have protective effects.
They discovered that these glands have what we call a kind of a bipotent phenotype; they’re actually halfway to cancer.
haleplushearty.org