Authors:

Dawn Burch

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About Paper:

The enzyme DDX5 regulates every aspect of RNA metabolism and is part of a protein family known as DEAD- box RNA helicase. RNA helicases hydrolyze ATP and use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to bind and remodel RNA. In earlier studies, the Andrisani lab discovered that the expression level of DDX5 correlates with the prognosis of liver cancer patients as patients with lower levels of DDX5 had a poorer prognosis. However, it is not yet understood why low expression of DDX5 contributes to a poor prognosis, leading to the question, "What happens to the liver cell/hepatocyte if DDX5 is no longer expressed?" A gene editing technique (CRISPR/CAS9) was used to eliminate the two genes coding for DDX5, ultimately knocking out the expression of DDX5 from the liver cell. In this study, the goal was to assess the effect of knockout DDX5 (DDX5KO) on the growth characteristics of a human liver cancer cell line (Huh7) compared to wild-type (WT) Huh7 cells. We hypothesized that since DDX5 regulates the mRNA metabolism elimination DDX5 will change the growth characteristic of the WT Huh7 cell line. This study was conducted by comparing the growth of the WT and DDX5KO Huh7 cells in 12-well plates over a four-day period. The results demonstrate that WT Huh7 cells grew faster than the DDX5KO Huh7 cells at higher densities. Further research is needed to better understand the role of DDX5 in liver cancer.

Source:

Purdue University / 2023

Topics:

No topics listed

Co-authors:

Dawn Burch