Life Sciences Commons^™

Mechanisms And Consequences Of Myb Gene Activation In Salivary Gland Tumors, Candace Frerich

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Salivary gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive tumor with a tendency to infiltrate surrounding nerves and metastasize to distant sites. The standard treatment often fails to control local tumor recurrence and distant metastases and no approved targeted therapeutic options exist for these tumors. The goal of our studies was to reveal the molecular mechanisms driving ACC tumor development and novel drug targets to improve patient morbidity and mortality.

We first analyzed clinical and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data for 68 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) ACC tumor samples and described previously unappreciated molecular heterogeneity that predicts patient outcome. The poor outcome subgroup …

Maintenance Of Genetic And Epigenetic Stability During Dna Double-Strand Break Repair And Dna Replication, Nathaniel E. Wiest

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Eukaryotic genomes are assembled into a complex of DNA and proteins known as chromatin. The packaging of DNA into chromatin is the foundational strategy that cells use to both compress genomic DNA into nuclei and regulate access to its contents. The basic repeating subunit of chromatin is the nucleosome, composed of an octamer of two copies of each of the core histone proteins H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 around which 146 bp of DNA are tightly wrapped. While the compaction of genomes into chromatin offers cells significant advantages, it also presents serious challenges to fundamental processes that maintain genome integrity, …