Zainab Almnaseer
Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine
The role of novel apoptosis genes in breast cancer
The analysis of the molecular mechanisms involved in controlling cell death and
survival is of great importance in developing gene and drug therapies for the many
diseases where the control of cell proliferation and cell death is perturbed including
cancer. The mechanisms that control the growth and survival of human cells are
complex and involve many genes, some of which are now well characterised,
however many others have yet to be identified. A major breakthrough, made only
very recently, is the recognition of the importance of long non-coding RNAs .
Evidence is emerging that many of these non-coding RNAs have unanticipated
functions and control many important cellular functions. I am investigating the
importance of these novel non-coding RNAs in breast cancer. The experiments
involve measuring the level of these molecules in samples obtained from breast
cancer patients and seeing how these non-coding RNAs affect cell fate when their
cellular levels increase or decrease. These experiments will produce greater
understanding of the crucial control mechanisms of breast cancer development and
may lead to new developments in the therapy and diagnosis of breast cancer.
Postgraduate Conference 2016
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