Date of Completion
Spring 5-1-2024
Thesis Advisor(s)
Brian Aneskievich
Honors Major
Pharmacy Studies
Abstract
Cancer is a class of diseases caused by an accumulation of genetic mutations and abnormalities during cell division. These errors are caused by a variety of factors such as the inhibition of cell cycle control proteins such as p53 that prevent cells with incorrectly replicated chromosomes from segregating as well as genetic and environmental susceptibilities that further cause DNA alteration. Proteins like p53 are tumor suppressor proteins which prevent the growth of cancer cells by regulating the growth of cells as they pass through the cell cycle. Tumor suppressor proteins p53, Axin, Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), and β-catenin were analyzed using in silico techniques to investigate how intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of these proteins affect their protein-protein interactions to create a multi-protein destruction complex that leads to the degradation of cancer cells. PONDR-Fit, catGranule, and PONDR were all used on computational platforms to determine how well structured each of the proteins are. By determining the exact residues where the protein is disordered, researchers can target these areas to promote interactions that can prevent tumorigenesis. These results can indicate potential new approaches that can lead to more developments in cancer treatment for better health outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Chen, Clifford, "In Silico Conformation Analysis of the Disordered Regions of Proteins Associated with the β-Catenin Destruction Complex and p53" (2024). Honors Scholar Theses. 1045.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/1045