Master Degree / Yüksek Lisans Tezleri
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/3008
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Master Thesis Investigation of M1a and M6a Rna Methylations in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells(2024) Sağlam, Buket; Akgül, BünyaminMeme kanseri dünya çapında kadınlarda en sık görülen kanser türüdür ve iki alt gruba ayrılır: invaziv lobuler ve invaziv duktal meme kanseri. Bunlardan invaziv duktal meme kanseri, %80 oranında dünya çapındaki meme kanserleri arasında yerini almaktadır. Üçlü negatif meme kanseri ise östrojen reseptörü, progesteron reseptörü ve insan epidermal büyüme faktörü reseptör 2'nin çoğaltılmasını gerçekleştiremeyen agresif bir meme kanseri alt türüdür. Kanser çalışmalarında RNA metilasyonları da hücrenin kaderine etkilerini kanıtlamış önde gelen modifikasyonlardır. Bütün metilasyonlarda olduğu gibi, m6A ve m1A de yazıcı, okuyucu ve silici proteinlerin yardımı ile gerçekleştirilen dinamik bir düzenleme mekanizmasına sahiptir. Bu proteinler, kanser türlerine göre farklı ifadelenme seviyelerine sahiptirler. Bu karakteristik özellikleri ile tedavi ve tespit amaçlı kullanılmaları hedeflenmektedir. Mevcut tez çalışmasında, yazıcı proteinleri olan METTL3 ve TRMT61A proteinlerinin susturulması sonrası, m6A ve m1A metilasyonlarının etkilerinin ve karşılaştırılmasının üçlü negatif meme kanseri hücrelerinden biri olan HCC1143 hücre hattında incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Öncelikle, METTL3 susturulması sonrası 72 saatte, maksimum düzey olan %41,2 oranında m6A miktarında azalma gözlenmiştir. Ardından fenotipik etkileri incelemek amaçlı gerçekleştirilen canlılık deneylerinde, METTL3 ve TRMT61A'nın susturulması ile sırasıyla %40,1 ve %27,4 azalma gözlemlendi. Ek olarak, TRMT61A'nın yıkılmasının aksine, yalnızca m6A metilasyonunun azalması sonucu G2/M fazında duraksama gözlenmiştir. m6A miktarının azaltılması sonucu 585 artan/azalan gen ve m1A metilasyonun azaltılması sonucu 687 artan/azalan gen tespit edilmiştir. Bunlardan 151 gen ortak olarak değişkenlik göstermiştir. Gen Ontolojisi zenginleştirme analizleri sonucunda METTL3 yıkımında hücre migrasyonu ve hücre motilite yolakları yoğun olarak gözlenmiştir. m1A azalması sonucu ise bağışıklık sistemi ve canlılığı negatif yönde etkileyen yolaklarda değişkenlik gözlenmiştir.Master Thesis Investigation of the Effects of Gtf2a1-Antisense Long Non-Coding Rna on Cell Fate(01. Izmir Institute of Technology, 2022) Çiftçi, Yusuf Cem; Akgül, BünyaminApoptosis is a distinct mode of programmed cell death whereby cellular contents are broken down and accumulated in the apoptotic bodies. The vast majority of the genome consists of non-coding RNAs (ncRNA). NcRNAs can be divided into groups depending on their length, for example, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) longer than 200 nucleotides. It has been demonstrated that these have important roles in the development, and treatment of cancer and in other diseases that critically affect human life. Considering the lncRNAs’ mechanisms of action on apoptosis, they modulate activity of transcription factors, regulate miRNAs, and interact with proteins related to histone mechanisms such as chromatin modifier. In this perspective, GTF2A1-AS which is an uncharacterized and novel lncRNA was found as one of highly expressed lncRNA in transcriptomic data obtained from HeLa cells treated with cisplatin. The potential role of GTF2A1-AS within the cell was investigated through the transcriptomic data provided by GTF2A1-AS knockdown. It has been found that specific gene clusters mainly enriched in the pathway which is Defective Homology directed Repair through Homologous Recombination. In this process, double-strand breaks are repaired with the help of BRCA1/2, RAD50, RAD51, PALB2 proteins which are known as DNA damage response proteins. Thus, the genes related with DNA damage response were selected to validate the transcriptomic data. In light of this information, GTF2A1-AS knockdown has resulted in an increase in the early apoptosis in HeLa cells. Additionally, when GTF2A1-AS knockdown was combined with cisplatin, it sensitized HeLa cells against cisplatin by affecting late apoptosis, specifically. Consequently, GTF2A1-AS as a cisplatin inducible lncRNA modulates apoptosis and chemosensitivity in HeLa cells.Master Thesis Examination of Stable Intronic Sequence Rna Profile Under Apoptotic Conditions(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2022) Kara, Merve; Akgül, BünyaminApoptosis is a process of programmed cell death. Cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic drug, activates intrinsic pathway of apoptosis while TNF-alpha, a death ligand, activates the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis. Noncoding RNAs involve in regulation of apoptotic pathways at post-transcriptional level. Stable intronic sequence RNAs (sisRNAs) are the novel class of non-coding RNAs which can be generated by splicing- dependent and independent mechanisms. sisRNAs transcribed from their intronic promoter may contain 5’ cap and polyA tail. Despite the reports of several studies about sisRNAs in Xenopus and Drosophila, a genome-wide profile of sisRNAs in human is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to identify sisRNAs profile that are transcribed from their intronic promoter under cisplatin- and TNF-alpha- mediated apoptosis conditions. In this thesis study, the deep sequencing of total RNA, polyA + and polyA eliminated fractions from cisplatin-, TNFalpha-, DMSO-treated cells were performed. Differentially expressed intronic transcripts were analysed by DE-kupl algorithm. The intronic transcripts both in total RNA and polyA + RNA fractions but not in polyA eliminated fractions were screened visually on Integrated Genome Viewer (IGV) and selected as sisRNA candidateS. 48 sisRNA candidates were detected in cisplatin-treated data while 33 sisRNA candidates were detected in TNF-alpha- treated data. 5’ and 3’ RACE PCRs were performed for determination of transcriptional units of sisRNA candidates. Overexpression of sisRDOCK7-IT1 caused 8.09% increase in total apoptosis of HeLa cells in 48 hours. sisRDOCK7-IT1 triggers the activation of apoptosis but the mechanism of its induction of apoptosis is still unknown.Master Thesis Investigation of Long Non-Coding Rna and Chromatin Interactions in Hela Cells(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2022) Atbinek, Melis; Akgül, BünyaminThe DNA in the cells is surrounding histone proteins to form nucleosomes. The structure is packed further into chromatin. The chromatin structure is dynamic and flexible. It is regulated by many factors including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs are a class of non-coding RNAs, transcripts that do not encode protein. They are longer than 200 nucleotides and might contain a polyA tail and a 5’ cap. Thus, they are localized in the nucleus. lncRNAs interact with chromatin in two ways, indirect and direct. Direct interaction occurs via two mechanisms: R-loop and triplex formation. These interactions affect the folding of chromatin inducing gene expression under various cellular conditions. LncRNAs interacting with chromatin regulating genes are found in HEK cells. Thus, it is hypothesized that lncRNA – chromatin interactions may differ in cancerous cells as well. In this study, the iMARGI method is optimized to be used in adenocarcinoma HeLa cells. The chromatin digestion and incubation conditions are adjusted to give optimal results for HeLa cells. iMARGI is a recently developed method employed to investigate such interactions in a genome-wide manner. iMARGI allows the isolation of all lncRNAs interacting with the whole genome. The interacting RNA – DNA molecules are pulled down with streptavidin conjugated beads after linker ligation. The chimeric molecules are amplified with PCR forming lncRNA – chromatin libraries of HeLa cells. In the future, new libraries can be formed after inducing apoptosis in HeLa cells. Identification of lncRNAs involved in chromatin remodeling in apoptotic conditions can facilitate new therapeutic methods for fighting tumor initiation and development.Master Thesis Investigation of the Interaction Between Dr5-As Long Noncoding Rna and Caprin1 Protein(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2022) Kaçar, Vahide İlayda; Akgül, BünyaminCell proliferation is the crucial process for many physiological incidents such as tissue and organ development, wound healing, and immune system reactions. It is achieved by the growth and division of cells in a multicellular organism. Investigation of molecules involved in the regulation of cell cycle mechanism provides insight into reasons and treatments of the diseases such as cancer. In recent years, information that acquired from deep sequencing reveals that several proteins and non-coding RNAs have crucial role in the regulation of cell cycle and proliferation. Death receptor 5 antisense (DR5-AS) is a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcript that is cisplatin inducible and is involved in modulation of cell proliferation and cell cycle in HeLa cells. When DR5-AS lncRNA was knocked down, the morphology of HeLa cells became spherical without inducing apoptosis. Although this lncRNA reduces cell proliferation via a cell cycle arrest at S and G2/M phases, mechanism behind this cell cycle arrest is not known. lncRNAs work in complexes with RNA, DNA, and protein interactions in the cell. There are several experimental and bioinformatical approaches to investigate RNA: protein interactions such as PAR-CLIP. In this approach, proximal protein and RNAs are covalently bonded with UV radiation. Then this complex is immunoprecipitated with specific antibodies. According to PAR-CLIP data of DR5-AS lncRNA, CAPRIN1 is a cell cycle associated protein that has the highest interaction score. The results suggest that CAPRIN1 and DR5-AS work reversely in cell proliferation although under the cisplatin treatment, CAPRIN1 enhances the expression of DR5-AS lncRNA. All these observations were confirmed by many quantitative experiments. Conclusively, this study provides a clue about how DR5-AS lncRNA might regulate cell cycle and proliferation through CAPRIN1 protein.Master Thesis Transcriptomics Profiling of M6a Rna Modifications in Tnf-Alpha Induced Apoptosis(01. Izmir Institute of Technology, 2021) Akçaöz, Azime; Akgül, BünyaminApoptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs as a result of physiological or pathological causes. TNF-alpha, which has a regulatory role in immune system cells, stimulates apoptosis through the external pathway. For this reason, it can be used for the treatment of various diseases. Although there are many studies on the regulatory mechanisms of TNF-alpha mediated apoptosis, the contribution of RNA modifications has not been fully elucidated. Regarding the potential role of m6A RNA modification in apoptosis, studies have focused on the effects of regulatory proteins and there is no genome-wide m6A methylation profile yet. In the present thesis, firstly, the gene expression patterns of m6A writer, eraser, and reader were examined in HeLa cells and 632 genes with differential m6A methylation pattern were identified by the miCLIP method. 99 genes involved in apoptotic pathways were determined by GO analysis. Candidates were selected based on m6A methylation fold change, intracellular expression level and apoptotic role of the relevant gene. Methylation points in IGV were confirmed and specific validation experiments were performed on these m6A points. SELECT based validation studies showed 1-2 cycle increase in the TNF-alpha group compared to the control group. This confirms the miCLIP data, which also pointed to an increase in m6A methylation. To elucidate the fate of candidate RNAs, the gene expression levels, and translational status of candidate genes were analyzed. METTL3 KD HeLa cells exposed to TNF-alpha exhibited an increase in the expression of PHLDA1, IFI6 and HRK by almost 2-fold. Polysome fractionation assay showed that translation level decreased in TNF-alpha treated METTL3 KD HeLa cells. As a conclusion, global m6A level affected RNA abundance as well as translation.Master Thesis Investigation of the Effect of Dr5-As Long Non-Coding Rna on Cell Proliferation(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2020) Gürer, Dilek Cansu; Akgül, BünyaminCell proliferation is the process of increasing cell number in a multicellular organism. In literature, there are numerous proteins and non-coding RNAs reported as regulators of cell proliferation, yet, many of others are waiting to be explored. Unravelling the mechanism behind the regulation of cell proliferation is crucial to develop new strategies for fighting numerous diseases such as cancer, immune diseases, or neurodegenerative diseases. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to regulate various cellular processes. To determine which ones are related to cell proliferation and apoptosis in HeLa cells, a transcriptomics study was performed under cisplatin, doxorubicin, TNF-? and Anti-Fas treatments. DR5-AS is a novel lncRNA transcript selected from this transcriptomics study as a promising regulatory lncRNA candidate due to its overlap with DR5 protein-coding gene which is known to regulate apoptosis and proliferation. Several phenotypic characterization methods were performed to understand the function of DR5-AS lncRNA. These studies showed that DR5-AS knockdown causes a significant decrease in cell proliferation, an alteration in the normal HeLa cell morphology, a shift through S and G2/M phases in cell cycle profile, and significant accumulation of cells in the metaphase phase. A second transcriptomics study was performed with DR5-AS knockdown HeLa cells to uncover which pathways are responsible for these changes. The results suggest that DR5-AS lncRNA regulates expression of numerous key proteins in cell cycle regulation. This observation was confirmed by several qPCR experiments. In conclusion, this study provides the first evidence that DR5-AS lncRNA modulates cell cycle and proliferation in HeLa cells.Master Thesis Analysis of Tnfrsf10b-As Long-Noncoding Rna's Effects on Various Cancer Cell Properties(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2019) Alkan, Ayşe Hale; Akgül, BünyaminLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) being longer than 200 nucleotides constitute a different class of RNA molecules. Several studies indicated that they have regulatory role in cellular processes including cancer development. Some of them have exclusively high expression in particular cancer types and regulate certain cancer cell properties. This renders them potential biomarker or therapeutic target in cancer. In this study, effects of a candidate lncRNA TNFRSF10B-AS and lncCAMTA1 on cancer cell properties were investigated. Candidate lncRNAs from Doxorubicin, Fas mAB, TNF-alpha and Cisplatin treated HeLa cell line were chosen and their expression level was measured in different cell lines including healthy (BEAS2B and MCF10A), metastatic (H1299 and MDA-MB- 231) and non-metastatic cell lines (A549 and MCF-7) by qPCR. From a few candidates lncCAMTA1 and TNFRSF10B-AS were selected for further analysis. qPCR results obtained from comparison of different cancer cell lines showed that their expression differs at least in one comparison of cell lines. TNFRSF10B-AS silencing decreased proliferation of HeLa cells. lncCAMTA1 was silenced or overexpressed in HeLa cells but phenotypic effect couldn’t be detected by apoptosis and cell proliferation assay. Additionally, phenotypic effect also couldn’t be observed in other cell lines when TNFRSF10B-AS was silenced.Master Thesis Indentification of Circular Ribonucleic Acids Differentially Expressed in Apoptotic Hela Cells(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2018) Yaylak, Bilge; Akgül, BünyaminApoptosis is a mechanism of programmed cell death that is essential for survival, homeostatis and development. Various protein coding genes and non-coding RNAs were reported as apoptosis regulators. However, the potential roles of circular RNA in the regulation of apoptosis are still unknown. In this study, we have performed transcriptomics study to reveal differentially expressed, pathway-drug specific and/or global circRNAs in apoptotic HeLa cells. Cisplatin (CP), doxorubicin (DOX), Fas mAb(FAS) and TNF-alpha (TNF-a) were used to trigger apoptosis in HeLa cells. Apoptosis rates of three replicates of treatment and control cells were measured by flow cytometry and differentially expressed circular RNAs were identified by deep RNA sequencing. Circular RNA candidates were firstly sorted based on their significance according to pad j value, further classified based on fold change, pathway-drug specificity and source genes. Then, circular RNA candidates were analysed bioinformatically to obtain their coding potential, potential miRNA binding sites and involvement in possible apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, divergent primers were designed to validate backsplicing junction sequence of circular RNA candidates. RNAse R treatment was used to eliminate linear transcripts and enrich circular RNAs. The expression of candidate circular RNAs was analysed RNAse R treated samples. Backsplicing junctions of positive circular control circ-HIPK3 was validated by TA cloning and sequencing. Differential expression of positive control (circ-HIPK3), candidate-8 and candidate-6 were validated by quantitative PCR.Master Thesis Molecular Characterization of the Gtf2a-1 Antisense Long Non-Coding Rna(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2017) Yarımçam, Murat Caner; Akgül, BünyaminOne of the essential events in cell regulation and normal development of an organism is apoptosis. The dysregulation of apoptosis is associated with diseases such as cancer. Apoptosis induction can kill cancer cells without harming the individual. For this purpose, new methods are developed to fight the cancer cells. One of the novel approaches is based on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). LncRNAs are differentially expressed in cancer cells and they regulate and interact essential pathways. The ones related to apoptosis are the targets. In this study, target lncRNA was determined based on RNA-Seq data. Then apoptosis was induced in HeLa cells with cisplatin and qRT-PCR was performed with isolated RNAs from the cells to validate the data with regard to upregulation of GTF2A-1 anti-sense lncRNA in apoptosis. Then GapmeR specific to target lncRNA was designed and transfected into HeLa cells in order to induce apoptosis. After induction of apoptosis, total RNA and protein were isolated from the cells. qRTPCR was performed to validate the RNA-Seq data. Western blotting was performed in order to characterize the target lncRNA by controlling its effects on different apoptosis pathways. Western blotting results are showing resemblance between GTF2A-1 antisense lncRNA silencing-induced apoptosis and cisplatin-induced apoptosis. The western blotting result of Cytochrome c is interesting because its amount is decreased in GTF2A- 1 anti-sense lncRNA silencing-induced apoptosis. The candidate, GTF2A-1 anti-sense lncRNA, is directly regulating the apoptosis in HeLa cells and in this study, some of the pathways that are regulated with this lncRNA were shown.