The molecular mechanisms of pseudogene-mediated PTEN expression.

The phosphatase and tensin homolog, PTEN, is a protein that negatively regulates the PI3K-Akt pathway through its phosphatase activity. PTEN is a tumour suppressor gene and mutations to the PTEN gene are often a precursor to the development of cancerous cells, common in many different types of cancer including prostate, breast and brain cancers. PTEN regulation is fine-tuned by the PTEN pseudogene, PTENpg1, and its two antisense RNAs. A number of proteins including DNA-methyltransferase 3a (DNMT3a) and Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) have been found to repress the PTEN gene by interacting at the PTEN promoter to cause a complex set of epigenetic changes. Here we show that an additional, previously uncharacterised transcript exists at the PTEN promoter. We also show that nucleolin has the ability to bind the PTENpg1 asRNA which produces a downstream effect on PTEN gene expression. These data also provide an indication that nucleolin may be involved in the poorly understood lncRNA degradation pathway. A greater understanding of this network may lead to improved treatment and diagnostics for complex cancers involving the PTEN gene and other genes associated with lncRNAs.

Grantor dc:publisher

UNSW, Sydney

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Groen, Jessica

• Pseudogene
• PTEN
• ncRNA
• Gene expression
• lncRNA
• Epigenetic

Statement dc:rights

• open access
• CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
• free_to_read

Licence

• https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/

Language dc:language

EN

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/19488

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/57481