A role for Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 in the DNA damage response

• Author / Creator

  Campbell, Stuart D.

• Polycomb protein methyltransferase, Enhancer of Zeste 2 (Ezh2), is frequently
  overexpressed in human malignancy and is implicated in cancer cell proliferation and
  invasion. Recently, several other polycomb proteins have been implicated in modulating
  the response to DNA double strand breaks, and thus we hypothesize that Ezh2 is also
  involved in the DNA damage response pathway. We investigated the involvement of Ezh2 and its associated complex, polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), in the DNA damage response pathway. We found that PRC2 proteins recruit to sites of DNA damage and knockdown of Ezh2 decreases double strand break repair efficiency and increases cellular sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Our data supports the hypothesis that PRC2 is involved in the DNA damage response and contributes to DNA double strand break signaling and repair.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • DNA damage
  • Cancer
  • Polycomb

• Graduation date

  Spring 2013

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3Z911

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.