EMSY interacts with BRCA2 and plays a role in chromatin remodeling. This interaction has been confirmed in HeLa cells. Overexpression of EMSY strongly correlates with amplification in sporadic breast cancer and higher grade ovarian cancer. The EMSY gene is amplified in 18% of breast cancer cell lines. EMSY amplification is highly correlated with DNA amplification in both cell lines and primary tumors. This amplification is a general sign of poor prognosis and shortened disease-free survival time. EMSY from a wide variety of species has a conserved 80 amino acid sequence at the N-terminus. In irradiated MEFs (mouse embryonic fibroblasts), EMSY was found to migrate to damaged DNA.
