Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4477-9151

Date Available

10-9-2020

Year of Publication

2019

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Medicine

Department/School/Program

Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Advisor

Dr. Guo-Min Li

Abstract

Genomic instability, in the form of gene mutations, insertions/deletions, and gene amplifications, is one of the hallmarks in many types of cancers and other inheritable genetic disorders. Trinucleotide repeat (TNR) disorders, such as Huntington’s disease (HD) and Myotonic dystrophy (DM) can be inherited and repeats may be extended through subsequent generations. However, it is not clear how the CAG repeats expand through generations in HD. Two possible repeat expansion mechanisms include: 1) polymerase mediated repeat extension; 2) persistent TNR hairpin structure formation persisting in the genome resulting in expansion after subsequent cell division. Recent in vitro studies suggested that a family A translesion polymerase, polymerase θ (Polθ), was able to synthesize DNA larger than the template DNA. Clinical and in vivo studies showed either overexpression or knock down of Polθ caused poor survival in breast cancer patients and genomic instability. However, the role of Polθ in TNR expansion remains unelucidated. Therefore, we hypothesize that Polθ can directly cause TNR expansion during DNA synthesis. The investigation of the functional properties of Polθ during DNA replication and TNR synthesis will provide insight for the mechanism of TNR expansion through generations.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.394

Funding Information

This dissertation was supported by NRSA Institutional Predoctoral Training Grants (T32: ES007266) and National Institute of Health (NIH) R01 (GM112702).

Share

COinS