Date of Award
2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Biology
Abstract
Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease comprised of multiple sub-populations of cells, each with the potential to contribute to the overall cancer in unique ways. Breast cancer stem-like cells (BCSC) are among those unique sub-populations, based on a CD 44+ , CD 45+ and CD 24-/low surface marker profile. This sub-population is responsible for breast cancer propagation and relapse; this makes these stem-like cells essential to study when developing new treatments for breast cancer. Stem cells and stem-like cells are pluripotent, denoting or indicating they have the ability to generate a multitude of cell types and near unlimited replicative potential. A transcriptome analysis of breast cancer cells and the sub-population of breast cancer stem cells will enable us to make a direct comparison of gene activity across the two populations. The analysis of gene activity will give scientists a clearer picture of the genes, the untranslated RNAs and the pathways involved in maintaining breast cancer stem cells. Identifying these pathways and key differences in gene activity will enable us to recognize specific targets for breast cancer stem cells and better understand their behavior in cancer development, progression, chemotherapeutic resistance, and metastasis. The results of this experiment indicate several differentially expressed genes that could significantly affect important pathways. Further investigating of interacting pathways of deferentially, expressed transcripts can determine their specificity to breast cancer stem-like cells.
Recommended Citation
Verga, Samuel A. II, "Comparative Analysis Of Breast Cancer Stem-Like Cells And The Bulk Tumor Through Whole Transcriptome Sequencing And Expression Analysis" (2016). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1891.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/1891