Investigating the role of ras-regulated non-coding RNAs involved in cell growth and transformation.

• Main Author: Chan, Li Fang.
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Molecular biology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/39942
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Oncogenic Ras promotes growth and proliferation in cancer cells but could lead to growth arrest in normal primary cells by inducing the expression of tumour suppressor genes such as p16INK4A and p53. This phenomenon is thought as a mechanism to protect cells from aberrant growth caused by stimulation of oncogenes. However, this self-protective mechanism is poorly understood. Recent studies provided strong evidences that transcribed long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are longer than 200 bp, can function without being translated to protein. A portion of them showed an altered expression profile in cancer cells. Several lines of evidences suggested that ncRNAs are involved in regulation of tumor suppressor genes under Ras activation; therefore we set out to investigate if ncRNAs are regulated by Ras activation. We have screened and identified ncRNAs that were differentially expressed in Ras-activated human fibroblasts. Growth competition assay and anchorage-independent growth assay were performed to study the roles of Ras-regulated ncRNAs in cell growth, proliferation and transformation. Our findings thus far suggest that ncRNA_10 and ncRNA_17 have growth-promoting roles on primary cells. Uncovering the role of ncRNAs in cell growth provides insights into the functions of transcribed ncRNAs, with potential implications for cancer.