Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/10526
Title: Mechanisms of senescence bypass in cells derived from the Syrian hamster embryo cell transformation assay
Authors: Pickles, Jessica Chiara
Advisors: Newbold, R
Harvey, A
Scott, A
Keywords: SHE CTA;Morphological transformation;P16;CDKN2A/B Locus;Carcinogen-induced immortalisation
Issue Date: 2014
Abstract: Recent European legislation has enforced a reduction in the use of animal models for safety assessment purposes and carcinogenicity testing. The Syrian hamster embryo cell transformation assay (SHE CTA) has been proposed as a suitable animal alternative, but its implementation into test batteries has been delayed. This is due to concerns regarding the assay’s endpoint subjectivity and, moreover, the model’s relevance to carcinogenicity remains mostly unexplored. Senescence is an essential barrier against uncontrolled cell proliferation and its evasion is necessary for clonal evolution and tumour development. Carcinogenesis can be modelled by reproducing underlying mechanisms leading to senescence bypass. In this project, the SHE CTA was performed using the known mutagen and human carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene, and the resulting SHE colonies were analysed. It was found that morphological transformation (MT) does not guarantee senescence bypass and cell immortalisation, but increases the likelihood of MT-derived cells subsequently acquiring unlimited growth potential. A limited number (between 10 and 20 %) of MT colonies produced cell clones capable of sustained proliferation and in most cases secondary events were necessary for the evasion of senescence barriers. With regard to mechanisms, p53 point mutations were present in 30 % of immortal B(a)P-induced MT colony-derived cells and located within the protein’s DNA binding domain. No p16 mutations were identified. Expression of p16 mRNA was commonly silenced or markedly reduced by a combination of mechanisms including monoallelic deletion, promoter methylation and BMI-1 overexpression. Taking advantage of the recently available Syrian hamster genomic sequence information generated by the Broad Institute, the coding regions of the Syrian hamster CDKN2A/B locus were shown to have good homology to human nucleotide sequences and confirmed the exonic structures of SH p16, ARF and p15. The findings further implicate the importance of p16 in regulating senescence while providing a molecular evaluation of SHE CTA-derived MT clones
Description: This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University London
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/10526
Appears in Collections:Biological Sciences
Dept of Life Sciences Theses

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
FulltextThesis.pdf10.21 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.