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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology
Mechanisms Of Trinucleotide Repeat Instability During Dna Synthesis, Kara Y. Chan
Mechanisms Of Trinucleotide Repeat Instability During Dna Synthesis, Kara Y. Chan
Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology
Genomic instability, in the form of gene mutations, insertions/deletions, and gene amplifications, is one of the hallmarks in many types of cancers and other inheritable genetic disorders. Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) disorders, such as Huntington’s disease (HD) and Myotonic dystrophy (DM) can be inherited and repeats may be extended through subsequent generations. However, it is not clear how the CAG repeats expand through generations in HD. Two possible repeat expansion mechanisms include: 1) polymerase mediated repeat extension; 2) persistent TNR hairpin structure formation persisting in the genome resulting in expansion after subsequent cell division. Recent in vitro studies suggested that a …
Integrin Α6Β4 Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Invasion By Altering Dna Repair-Mediated Epigenetics, Brittany L. Carpenter
Integrin Α6Β4 Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Invasion By Altering Dna Repair-Mediated Epigenetics, Brittany L. Carpenter
Theses and Dissertations--Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry
Integrin α6β4 is upregulated in pancreatic carcinoma, where signaling promotes metastatic properties, in part by altering the transcriptome. Such alterations can be accomplished through DNA demethylation of specific promoters, as seen with the pro-metastatic gene S100A4. I found that signaling from integrin α6β4 dramatically upregulates expression of amphiregulin (AREG) and epiregulin (EREG), ligands for the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and that these ligands promote pancreatic carcinoma invasion. To determine if AREG and EREG are regulated by DNA methylation, pancreatic cancer cells with low AREG and EREG expression were treated with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), resulting in stable …