Date of Award
2-17-2016
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Biological Sciences
Keywords
Cerebellum, Medulloblastoma, TSC1, TSC2, Tuberin
Supervisor
Porter, Lisa
Supervisor
Fidalgo da Silva, Elizabeth
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Mutations in the TSC2 gene, coding for the tumour suppressor protein Tuberin, lead to formation of benign tumours in systems like the brain. Some data supports Tuberin being an essential regulator of neural development and playing a role in cell fate decisions. I hypothesized that Tuberin is an essential regulator of neural cell fate decisions in the cerebellum and mutations in Tuberin may fuel the expansion of a stem-like population of cells in the childhood malignant brain cancer Medulloblastoma (MB). I found that Tuberin levels were tightly regulated in select regions of the brain. Culture of primary cerebellum stem/progenitor cells was performed. I demonstrated that Tuberin levels are downregulated throughout cell differentiation. Tuberin levels are high in the stem-like population in MB cells. This supports that Tuberin is an essential regulator of differentiation in stem-like progenitor population. Coaxing this stem-cell population to undergo functional differentiation in MB is one potentially exciting area for new cancer therapy.
Recommended Citation
Abu Khatir, Bashaer, "TUBERIN REGULATION IN NEURAL TISSUE AND CELL FATE" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5624.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5624