Poster No. 32
Title:
MicroRNA Expression Profiling: Connecting Lung Development and Lung Cancer
Authors:
Sana Mujahid, MaryAnn Volpe, Heber Nielsen
Presented by:
Sana Mujahid
Departments:
Department of Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology, Tufts University School of Medicine;
Department of Pediatrics, Tufts Medical Center
Abstract:
MicroRNAs are a class of small RNAs that regulate gene expression by imperfectly pairing with the 3’UTR
sequence of their target mRNAs, resulting in translational repression. Previous studies report a correlation
between those genes up regulated during lung cancer and those involved in controlling normal fetal lung
development. Our lab has been studying mechanisms necessary for normal fetal lung development. We recently
have begun to study how miRNA mechanisms contribute to the regulated expression of genes involved in lung
development. We have begun by using a miRNA qRT-PCR based screen of fetal mouse lungs during the critical
period of development from a pseudoglandular to a saccular lung in preparation for survival at birth. One goal of
this study is to find specific miRNA species which actively regulate gene expression for normal development
and which also become reactivated during the progression of lung cancer.
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