3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Targeting retinoblastoma binding protein 6 (RBBP6) as an anti-ovarian cancer therapeutic strategy(2015-05-07) Ubanako, Philemon NjendeOvarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological cancer. About 90% of ovarian cancers are epithelial (ovarian carcinomas), thought to arise from the ovarian surface epithelium. Diagnosed usually at clinically advanced stages, many patients show poor response to chemotherapy, with resistance and recurrent disease being prevalent. siRNA technology is currently being explored in clinical trials as a form of targeted therapeutic strategy in the disease. RBBP6 is a 250kD protein that enhances MDM2-mediated ubiquitination of p53 and also plays a role in cell cycle regulation and cell differentiation. It is upregulated in numerous cancers such as lung, oesophageal, colorectal and cervical cancer. RBBP6 suppresses p53 binding to DNA thereby inhibiting p53-dependent gene transcription. RBBP6 was knocked down using 30 nM siRNA in RMG-1 cells for 48 hours, after which the cells were treated with 50 nM paclitaxel and 0.5μM camptothecin for 24 hours. xCELLigence real time cell analysis was used to evaluate cell proliferation. qPCR and western blot were used to evaluate both gene expression and protein expressions respectively, of Bax, Bcl-2, MDM2, p53 and p21. Flow cytometry was used to determine the mode of cell death elicited apoptosis and also analyse changes in cell cycle progression. qPCR and Western blot analyses showed that RBBP6 expression reduced by approximately 57%. There was a significant upregulation of p53 and a significant downregulation of Bcl-2 in siRBBP6 transfected cells (p<0.05). Knockdown of RBBP6 resulted in a 37±5.8% cell death. There was a significant increase in cell death in paclitaxel and siRBBP6 co-treated cells (81.6±0.79%) as compared to cells treated with paclitaxel only (76.±1.14%). siRNA-mediated knock down of RBBP6 induces cell death in RMG-1 ovarian carcinoma cells. In addition, paclitaxel-induced cell death in RMG-1 cells is potentiated by RBBP6 siRNA transfection. A combination of chemotherapy with paclitaxel or camptothecin and RBBP6 siRNA could be a possible therapeutic strategy in combatting ovarian carcinomas.Item Molecular mechanisms of apoptosis in lung cancer: a role for retinoblastoma binding protein 6 (RBBP6) and its protein products(2010-08-24) Motadi, Lesetja RaymondRBBP6 (retinoblastoma binding protein 6) is a 250-kDa multifunctional protein that interacts with both p53 and pRb and has been implicated in mRNA processing. It has also been identified as an E3 ubiquitin ligase due to the presence of a RING finger domain and also assumed to have a regulatory role of p53 due to the presence p53BD through MdM2, although no substrate has been identified up to now. RBBP6 gene mutants are reported to be resistant to apoptosis inducers, which led to a belief that mutation of this gene might result in the development of lung cancer. Earlier localization and expression studies have shown that RBBP6 expression and apoptosis levels are indirectly proportional. The purpose of this study is to establish the expressional pattern of the RBBP6 gene in lung cancer at both mRNA and protein levels. The objective is also to characterize the role of this gene and apoptosis in diverse lung diseases. An understanding of the role of RBBP6 in the development of lung diseases may lead to insights into developing new therapeutic measures for those lung diseases in which apoptosis plays a prominent part. This thesis elucidate the possible role of RBBP6 in lung cancer and apoptosis, to establish tissue distribution and expression levels of RBBP6 at protein and mRNA levels in lung cancer by immunocytochemistry (ICC), in situ hybridization (ISH) and confirm findings by quantitative RT-PCR. RBBP6 mRNA transcripts were expressed in the cytoplasm of normal and tumour lung epithelium. In general, expression was highest in the cytoplasm of welldifferentiated carcinoma and invasive carcinoma that showed signs of cells undergoing mitosis. Immunolabelling results further showed high level of expression in all lung cancer types except in Small and large cell carcinomas. The immunolabeling were confirmed by ISH experiments and RT-PCR. In relation to p53, RBBP6 mRNA expression was higher in lung cancer cell lines that had p53 silenced and apoptosis induced by TRAIL and camptothecin. There was no notable change in the levels of p53 expression following RBBP6 silencing and apoptosis induction. However, there was a little correlation between RBBP6 expression and apoptosis levels in both lung cancer tissues by TUNEL and lung cancer cell line following apoptosis induction by TRAIL. The ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 was seen to be upregulated following p53 and RBBP6 silencing after apoptosis induction. The most common mutation notable after RBBP6 DNA sequencing was point mutations where only single nucleotide was mutated and mostly they were observed in lung cancer tissues. This was the first demonstration that RBBP6 is expressed in lung cancers. Because of the ubiquitin-like nature of the protein and its localized up-regulation and corresponding proapoptotic activity in lung cancer cells, it is possible that further characterization of this gene could lead to its manipulation as a diagnostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment.