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http://hdl.handle.net/11375/28257
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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.advisor | Bedard, Andre | - |
dc.contributor.author | Mehta, Disha | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2023-01-26T20:07:09Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2023-01-26T20:07:09Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2023 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/28257 | - |
dc.description.abstract | Genes expressed during quiescence, known as growth arrest specific (GAS) genes are of great interest due to their ability to prevent a cell from proliferating while enhancing its survivability by maintaining lipid homeostasis amongst other varied mechanisms. In response to nutritional stress, GAS genes may be upregulated, leading to quiescence instead of differentiation or senescence, implying that they are markers of quiescence. A GAS gene of particular interest is cutA. Gene profiling studies investigating gene signatures that are upregulated in response to quiescence inducing environments showed cutA to have a 50-fold increase in expression, one of the strongest responses to contact inhibition from the 28,000 genes that were analyzed. First characterized in Escherichia coli, as a divalent cation tolerance protein, cutA has a highly conserved trimeric structure across species, indicating a potentially fundamental role in cells. In this study, we confirmed the induction of cutA expression in response to oxygen depleted (hypoxia, contact inhibition) conditions that induce cellular quiescence, as well as in response to metal addition. We investigated the effect of aberrant cutA expression on cell proliferation and survival in quiescence by shRNA-mediated downregulation of the gene, which revealed that cutA does have a function in promoting cell survival in quiescence. Based on our findings, we propose a mechanism for the transcriptional activation of cutA in response to quiescent, and in response to metal addition. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.title | Characterizing the pro-survival function of the cutA growth arrest specific gene in quiescent chicken embryo fibroblasts | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
dc.description.degreetype | Thesis | en_US |
dc.description.degree | Master of Science (MSc) | en_US |
dc.description.layabstract | First characterized in Escherichia coli as a divalent cation tolerance protein, cutA has since been found to have a highly conserved trimeric structure and has been implicated in various different roles across species. Its characterization in eukaryotes, however, is not well defined. Gene profiling done by the Bedard Lab identified it as a gene that is found upregulated in density-arrested chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF). In this study, we characterize its expression in reversible growth arrested CEF, as well as investigate its role in promoting cell survival in this state. | en_US |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Mehta_Disha_January 2023_Masters.pdf | 1.57 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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