Characterization of perillyl alcohol as a cell migration-inhibiting compound

Inhibiting cancer cell migration could greatly improve the prognosis of cancer patients. Prior to commercialization of the Plopper laboratory designed a 96-well plate, we optimized our in vitro migration and cell viability assays to meet the standards set by the National Cancer Institute for use in a large-scale drug screen for anti-migration compounds. Using these assays, we measured the cytotoxicity and migration-inhibiting effect of dimethyl sulfuoxide, a drug solvent, in three cancer and one non-cancer cell lines. Next, we investigated plant-derived compounds called monoterpenes, known chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic agents, for non-cytotoxic, migration-inhibiting properties in MCF-10A normal and MDA-MB 435 cancerous breast cells. Perillyl alcohol at 0.5 mM inhibited normal breast cell migration while it failed to affect cancer cell migration. Finally, we examined the loss of prenylation of RhoA, a small GTPase protein involved in the formation of focal adhesions and stress fibers, and corresponding morphological changes following exposure to perillyl alcohol.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biological Science

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2001

Author dc:creator

• Wagner, Johanna Elizabeth

Contributors dc:contributor

• George Plopper

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1304

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2303