Date Available
12-7-2011
Year of Publication
2009
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Document Type
Thesis
College
Medicine
Department
Medical Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Andrew J. Pierce
Abstract
The gene that produces the precursor RNA transcript to the three largest ribosomal RNA molecules (rDNA) is present in multiple copies and organized into gene clusters. They represent 0.5% of the diploid human genome but are critical for cellular viability. The individual genes possess very high levels of sequence identity and are present in high local concentration, making them ideal substrates for genomic rearrangement driven by dysregulated homologous recombination. Our laboratory has developed a sensitive physical assay capable of detecting recombination-mediated genomic restructuring in the rDNA by monitoring changes in lengths of the individual clusters. In order to determine whether dysregulated recombination is a potential driving force of genomic instability in human cancer, adult patients with either lung or colorectal cancer, and pediatric patients with leukemia were prospectively recruited and assayed. Over half of the adult solid tumors show detectable rDNA rearrangements relative to either surrounding non-tumor tissue or normal peripheral blood. In contrast, there is a greatly reduced frequency of alteration in pediatric leukemia. This finding makes rDNA restructuring one of the most common chromosomal alterations in adult solid tumors, illustrates the dynamic plasticity of the human genome, and may have prognostic or predictive value in disease progression.
Recommended Citation
Stults, Dawn Michelle, "HUMAN RIBOSOMAL RNA GENE CLUSTERS ARE RECOMBINATIONAL HOTSPOTS IN CANCER" (2009). University of Kentucky Master's Theses. 626.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/626
