My project takes a look into gene regulation and what happens when it goes wrong. The most obvious and biggest problem when gene regulation is not maintained is the development of cancer. This happens when tumour suppressors are downregulated or knocked out, or when oncogenes are upregulated. Several factors can play a role in this: defects in promoters, enhancers, inhibitors, transcription factors, point mutations, and many more! To study this more specifically, I’ve chosen the MDM2 gene, which encodes for the oncogenic protein also named MDM2. MDM2 has shown to be upregulated in certain tumours, especially soft tissue sarcomas, osteosarcomas and gliomas. Its main function is to negatively regulate tumour suppressor protein p53, one of the major factors in cancer formation when it is mutated or non-functioning. Based on preliminary research, I hypothesize that when MDM2 is overexpressed, there will be unregulated tumour growth due to the repression of p53 protein. Several research studies have shown a correlation of MDM2 overexpression to cancer, yet the specific effects of intentional MDM2 overexpression have not been characterized. Furthermore, minimal research has been done on MDM2 knock out mice models, but it has been shown that KO MDM2 mice die in embryogenesis, suggesting this gene is essential for proper growth in mice. The importance of studying gene regulation in MDM2 is because this gene is highly conserved in a range of species, from humans to zebrafish to mice; therefore it is obviously quite important. Furthermore, different expression patterns of this gene shows linkage to various human cancers, thus analysis of its regulation can help lead researchers in finding a cure for cancer.
Amanda
email: manda147@interchange.ubc.ca | Student Number: 92681071
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