Description
This gene is a member of the RAD51 family of related genes, which encode strand-transfer proteins thought to be involved in recombinational repair of damaged DNA and in meiotic recombination. This gene product interacts with two other DNA repair proteins, encoded by RAD51B and XRCC3, but not with itself. The protein copurifies with XRCC3 protein in a complex, reflecting their endogenous association and suggesting a cooperative role during recombinational repair. This gene is one of four localized to a region of chromosome 17q23 where amplification occurs frequently in breast tumors. Overexpression of the four genes during amplification has been observed and suggests a possible role in tumor progression. Alternative splicing has been observed for this gene and two variants encoding different isoforms have been identified