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The role of Rac1-modulated gene transcription in tumorigenesis

dc.contributor.advisorJordan, Peterpor
dc.contributor.advisorCosta, Júliapor
dc.contributor.authorBarros, Patrícia
dc.date.accessioned2012-12-19T17:50:18Z
dc.date.available2012-12-19T17:50:18Z
dc.date.issued2012-11-29
dc.descriptionTese de Doutoramento em Biologia (Biologia Molecular) apresentada ao Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2012.por
dc.description.abstractGene expression regulation is a dynamic and multi-step process, in which transcription plays a major role. Transcription initiation depends on binding of transcription regulators to DNA elements located in promoter or enhancer regions, a process often controlled by signalling pathways. One such pathway is regulated by Rac1, a member of the Rho family of small GTPases involved in cell proliferation, adhesion and migration. In this work, novel links between Rac1 signalling and transcriptional regulation in colorectal tumour cells are described. First, it is shown that Rac1 activation leads to PAK1-mediated phosphorylation of the transcriptional repressor BCL-6 in colorectal cancer cells, inactivating its repressor function. In the presence of active Rac1, BCL-6 redistribution within the nucleus, a reduction in its affinity to chromatin and increased expression of the endogenous target genes NFKB1 and CD44, and of a BCL-6-controlled luciferase reporter construct were observed. Next, it was found that Rac1 signalling promotes gene transcription by inducing a transcriptional switch from the repressor BCL-6 to the activator STAT5A at the promoter of certain target genes. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, it is demonstrated in different colorectal cell lines that active Rac1 promotes release of BCL-6 with concomitant nuclear translocation and binding of STAT5A at the same promoter site. Three endogenous cell-cycle-related genes (CCND2, CDKN2B, SUMO1) were identified to be inversely regulated by BCL-6 and STAT5A and shown to respond to Rac1 signalling with promoter occupancy switches that correlate directly with changes in their expression levels. This work provides new mechanistic insights into how Rac1 signalling modulates gene transcription through the switching between transcription factors and contributes to uncovering the implications of deregulated Rac1 activity in cancer.por
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/1133
dc.language.isoengpor
dc.peerreviewedyespor
dc.subjectVias de Transdução de Sinal e Patologias Associadaspor
dc.subjectRac1por
dc.subjectColorectal Cancerpor
dc.subjectGene Expressionpor
dc.subjectTranscription Regulationpor
dc.subjectSTAT5por
dc.subjectBCL-6por
dc.titleThe role of Rac1-modulated gene transcription in tumorigenesispor
dc.typedoctoral thesis
dspace.entity.typePublication
rcaap.rightsrestrictedAccesspor
rcaap.typedoctoralThesispor

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