Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Abstract
The goal of this research project is to figure out the location of the proteins ZNF274,
ZNF277, and ZBTB24 in MCF7 cells (breast cancer line) and HCT116 cells (colon cancer cells).
There has not been much research done on these transcription factors so being able to figure out
the location of the proteins will be an advancement in the research of the proteins. For this
project, various processes will be executed to figure out the location of the proteins. Gateway
cloning, cell culture, transfection, western blot, and immunofluorescence are the steps that are
taken to execute the goal. Western blot gave information on if there were proteins in the samples.
Immunofluorescence used three different stains (DAPI, 488, and Sy3) to stain the nucleus,
proteins, and cytoskeleton. In the end, the western blot did not show good results. The anti-flag
western blot did not show the bands in the columns. The beta-tubulin western blot worked
slightly. There were bands that were slightly visible, but not very clear. The immunofluorescence
showed good results for the proteins ZNF274 and ZBTB24. There were no proteins visible for
ZNF277. What was interesting is that in the cancer line MCF7, the proteins for ZNF274 were
outside the cell, but for HCT116 the proteins were inside the cell. This potentially means that the
transcription factor plays some role in the development of cancer. For future research, the
transcription factors ZBTB24 and ZNF274 can be studied further to see their function in the
development of cancer. For ZNF277, researchers can see why the proteins were not produced
and what went wrong in the expression of those proteins.
The central dogma of biology states that from DNA, RNA is made, and from RNA,
proteins are made. Regulation of transcription is done by transcription factors. They bind to
regions of DNA and give RNA polymerase a place to bind to for transcription to begin.
Transcription is the process in which RNA polymerase copies the target DNA strand into mRNA.
Since DNA cannot leave the nucleus, this process is important in getting the information held in
the DNA out to the ribosomes. The mRNA can leave the nucleus so it can send the necessary
information to the ribosomes. The mRNA then goes on to ribosomes and is translated into
proteins with the help of tRNAs. The tRNAs have recognition sites for specific amino acids that
allow them to get the right amino acid, which is the building block of proteins. The creation of
the amino acids in the proper order creates the protein that the cell needs. The absence of
transcription factors means that RNA polymerase cannot bind to the DNA and thus cannot copy
the DNA into mRNA. This means that the proteins that the body needs cannot be created since
the mRNA is not created. So transcription factors play a major role in the regulation of the
manufacturing of proteins.
Cells only need to transcribe certain parts of the DNA since only certain proteins are
needed for the cell to function. This means certain transcription factors are turned on in certain
cells, so knowing which cells transcription factors are turned on in will allow one to know what
the function of the transcription factor is (Lee, T., Young, R., 2013). Two transcription factors
that are being studied are ZNF274 and ZBTB24. Both of these are zinc finger transcription
factors. The DNA segments that these transcription factors regulate is unknown and the overall
function of the transcription factors is not well understood either. That is the goal of this research
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In the lab, HCT116 cells were first grown. In order to grow these cells, it is important to
make sure that the dead cells are off the plate and the live cells have fresh media available to
them. In order to do this, take the plate that the cells are growing on and take off all the old
media. Before the media is taken off, all the necessary liquids (DPBS, trypsin, and the media) are
pre-heated to 37 degrees Celsius. Then the liquid called DPBS, which washes the cell plate, is
added and this discards the dead cells that are just floating around on the top. In order to get the
dead cells that are stuck to the bottom of the plate off, trypsin is added. This has to be applied to
the cells and then incubated for 3-5 minutes. It is important to be precise with time on this step
since the trypsin can kill all the cells and that is counter intuitive. Once the trypsin has been
added and the cells have been incubated, the new media can be added and the cells are good for a
few days and can be incubated. The media is added in a ratio of 1mL of media for every 1 cm3.
For example, if a cell plate is 20 cm3, then 20 mL of media needs to be added to it.
PCR was the first major step that was completed. This process amplified the area of the
DNA that had the information for ZBTB24 or ZNF274 into mass amounts. The PCR products
were used to run a gel electrophoresis. The purpose is to make sure that there was the correct
DNA was in the samples; for example, ZBTB24 should show up as a certain band size based on
its base pair numbers. The size of the bands can be determined using a ladder that is also loaded
with the DNA samples. The ladder contains bands that are of known size and is used as a
reference for the other bands. The gel is made up of agarose. This enzyme allows DNA to move
through the gel and separate into the individual bands. The way the DNA strand move through
the gel is by a charge. The apparatus is plugged into a machine that sends a charge of a certain
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IV.
Results
In order to visualize the proteins in the cell, immunofluorescence was done. The results
show that in HCT116, some of the proteins were expressed, but not all of the proteins were
expressed well. Figure 3 shows only a blue DAPI stain. Figure 4 is a picture of ZNF274 and it
shows proteins outside the nucleus. Figure 5 has a lot of proteins in the nuclei of the cells. The
red stain is very faint and that is because the Sy3 stain did not work very well. Figure 6 shows
ZNF277a and there was no specificity in the staining of the proteins. The green that is being
shown in the picture is most likely due to autofluoresecence, which is when living tissue emits a
green light, and this could just be the living tissue fluorescing, not the proteins. Figure 9 shows
ZNF277b and similar to ZNF277a there is no specificity in the proteins. There is a general green
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V.
Discussion
In the immunofluorescence, figures 1 and 10 were accurate since only the DAPI stain
was applied to the cells. Protein ZNF274 was different between the two cancer lines. In HCT116,
the proteins were located outside the nucleus as shown in figure 2, but in MCF7 the proteins
were located in the nucleus as seen in figures 11 and 12. This change in location may have an
effect on the development of cancer. Protein ZBTB24 was expressed pretty well in both cancer
lines. Protein ZNF277 did not express well in either cell line.
Protein extraction actually did work and the Western Blot verified that we did achieve a
protein suspension. As seen in the picture, all the protein bands (we stained for Beta Tubulin and
this should be the same length for all proteins) are the same length. This control was made to
verify protein presence, and intensity/concentration of proteins on the membrane. As seen in the
picture, beta tubulin does not have a strong or intense band; this could have resulted from a small
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to Dr. Seth Frietze for mentoring this research project and providing the proper
materials to undergo the research processes. Thank you to Alexis Corcoran and Zach for assisting
with the research protocols and also mentoring this project as a whole. Thank you Preston Le and
Esme Fahnestock for the assistance in lab work. Thank you to Nicole Wood for assisting in the
written work throughout the project. Thank you to the Edward Madigan Foundation for
sponsoring this research for me and thank you to the Morris Family Foundation for sponsoring
my room and board here at UNC. Thank you to Lori Ball for coordinating The Frontiers of
Science Institute and The University of Northern Colorado for providing the opportunity to
conduct this research project
VII. References
Bernuth, Horst Von, Ethiraj Ravindran, Hang Du, Sebastian Frhler, Karoline Strehl, Nadine
Krmer, Lina Issa-Jahns, Borko Amulic, Olaf Ninnemann, Mei-Sheng Xiao, Katharina Eirich,
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Jessica C. de Greef, Jun Wang, Judit Balog,Johan T. den Dunnen, Rune R. Frants, Kirsten R.
Straasheijm,Caner Aytekin, Mirjam van der Burg, Laurence Duprez, Alina Ferster, Andrew R.
Gennery, Giorgio Gimelli, Ismail Reisli, Catharina Schuetz, Ansgar Schulz, Dominique F.C.M.
Smeets, Yves Sznajer, Cisca Wijmenga Marja C. van Eggermond, Monique M. van Ostaijenten Dam, Arjan C. Lankester,Maarten J.D. van Tol, Peter J. van den Elsen, Corry M. Weemaes,
and Silvre M. van der Maarel (2011) Mutations in ZBTB24 Are Associated with
Immunodeficiency, Centromeric Instability, and Facial Anomalies Syndrome Type 2
Lee, Inh Tong, Young, A. Richard (2013) Transcriptional Regulation and Its Misregulation in
Disease
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