Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

A Pan-Cancer guide to cancer-related alterations of pro-survival and -apoptotic BCL-2 proteins

Rissler, Vendela (2019) BINP52 20182
Degree Projects in Bioinformatics
Popular Abstract
Cancer genetics

Our body consists of billions of cells. As new cells continuously are produced, some other are dying. This homeostatic balance is crucial for maintaining healthy tissues in any living organism. Different cells have different purposes, red blood cells for example transport oxygen around our body, while neural cells can send signals to and from our brain to ensure movement, and skin cells keep our body intact. The function different cells have depend on their “production manual”, called DNA. From DNA, a different set of genes for different types of cells are available. Those genes can be transcribed into RNA-chains, which will work as templates in a production of mainly proteins. Many RNA-chains in a cell can therefore... (More)
Cancer genetics

Our body consists of billions of cells. As new cells continuously are produced, some other are dying. This homeostatic balance is crucial for maintaining healthy tissues in any living organism. Different cells have different purposes, red blood cells for example transport oxygen around our body, while neural cells can send signals to and from our brain to ensure movement, and skin cells keep our body intact. The function different cells have depend on their “production manual”, called DNA. From DNA, a different set of genes for different types of cells are available. Those genes can be transcribed into RNA-chains, which will work as templates in a production of mainly proteins. Many RNA-chains in a cell can therefore correlate to a high need of that protein at that time. Thus, by analysing changes in number of RNA-chains, researchers can learn a lot about tissue specific cellular behaviour.

As DNA plays an important role in cell function, damage to it can have severe consequences. Dysfunctional proteins or changes in number of RNA-chains are some outcomes. This is what happens when a healthy cell become a cancer cell. Due to cancerous mutations, those cells will start to divide at a very high rate, and at the same time inactivate their own death. These cells also lose their specific purpose, and are instead inducing harm to surrounding tissues. Spreading of cancer cells will further damage other tissues as well, and by doing so the cancer have evolved to become malignant. A lot of cancer treatments today are targeting different cancer features such as cell division. The problem with this is that some healthy cells in our body share those features, making them drug targets as well. Hence, a lot of side effects come with cancer treatment due to healthy cells continuously being killed off. More efficient cancer drugs are desired, but to develop such further knowledge about differences between cancer and healthy cells is needed.

By analysing cancer specific RNA quantity and DNA mutations, a more detailed picture on differences between cancer and healthy cells can be captured. In this project, a group of proteins regulating cell death have been genetically analysed with a main focus on their mutations and differences in number of RNA-chains. As cancer cells are known for their resistance of death, those proteins are believed to have a central role in cancer development. A mapping of their alterations in 18 cancer types, subtypes and tumour stages has been performed to further conclude this. That, alongside with analyses on how they can regulate or compensate for each other, have provided a greater picture on how and why they might be suitable for future cancer treatments.

Master’s Degree Project in Bioinformatics 60 credits 2019
Department of Biology, Lund University
Advisor: Elena Papaleo
Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Computational Biology Laboratory, Copenhagen, Denmark (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Rissler, Vendela
supervisor
organization
course
BINP52 20182
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
8989788
date added to LUP
2019-07-03 14:17:03
date last changed
2019-07-03 14:17:03
@misc{8989788,
  author       = {{Rissler, Vendela}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Pan-Cancer guide to cancer-related alterations of pro-survival and -apoptotic BCL-2 proteins}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}