Award Date

1-1-2000

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Committee Member

Stephen W. Carper

Number of Pages

42

Abstract

Cells may die via a programmed cell death called apoptosis. Apoptosis can be triggered by many death signals, some of which cause cytochrome c to be released from the mitochondria initiating the caspase cascade. When there is an over-expression of Heat Shock Protein 27 (HSP27), the cell does not obey the death signals that it receives. In this study, the molecular mechanism for the HSP 27 inhibition of the caspase cascade is described in human breast cancer cells that were engineered to constitutively express HSP 27. HSP 27 directly bound to cytochrome c and inhibited the activation of caspase 9 and caspase 3. In the presence of an excess amount of cytochrome c, the caspase cascade was reactivated. Granzyme B activated caspase 3 even in the presence of HSP 27. This suggests the conclusion that HSP 27 is a novel inhibitor of apoptosis by binding to cytochrome c.

Keywords

Breast; Cancer; Cascade; Caspase; Cells; Heat; Human; Inhibition; Protein; Shock

Controlled Subject

Biochemistry; Cellular biology; Oncology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1136.64 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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