Insights Into the Oncogenic Role of WDR-74 Using ChIP-Seq

Abstract

According to the American Cancer Society there are projected to be more than a half-million new incidences of cancer comprised of melanoma, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer combined in the United States among men and women. While therapeutic options exist for these cancers, the causal epigenetic mechanisms leading to tumorigenesis in malignancies are poorly understood, and there is no cure. In this work, we will examine how WD repeat-containing protein 74 (WDR74), a nuclear protein canonically involved in ribosome biogenesis, cell cycle progression, and cell proliferation, interacts with the cancer genome using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) in VCaP cells. WDR74 has been shown previously across several solid tumor types to play a critical role in cancer progression, showing promise as a potential therapeutic target. However, its mechanisms driving oncogenesis are not completely known. This thesis aims to expand our necessary understanding of how WDR74 interacts with the cancer genome, providing insight into its downstream effectors driving tumorigenesis and providing new avenues to examine its role in cancer. progression.