Enhancer in Diease
Authors:
Rachel Herndon, Tuyen NguyenMentor:
Bogi Andersen, M.D, University of California IrvineActive enhancers in DNA are important because they can speed up transcription. Transcription is the process where genetic information is copied from DNA to RNA. This research seeks to identify active enhancers in DNA. Diseases can be caused by mutation of enhancers. The development of a cancerous cell is a multi-step process; one of these steps can be mutation of enhancer, causing a gene that controls growth to become more active than normal. In this research, we started with ten predicted enhancers. Through the process of Polymerase Chain Reaction, DNA cloning and sequencing, we created plasmids with the desired enhancers and a reported gene. We transfected the cornea cells with different enhancers. After that, we measured the fluorescence in different samples. Following the calculation and comparisons with the negative and positive controls, we were able to identify the enhancer that are important for epithelial cell function and will help us understand the development and progression of epithelial diseases.