Potential research project

The cAMP Response Element Binding (CREB) protein family in glioblastoma cells.

CREB and ATF1 are a related family of transcription factors which are able to switch many genes from an inactive to an active state. CREB has been shown to possess some of the properties attributed to many cancer promoting oncogenes. One of the most common and untreatable forms of brain cancers, glioblastoma, is a cancer where certain nerve cell types uncontrollably grow. This project is designed to determine which CREB proteins are expressed in cultured human glioblastoma cell lines. In the cell lines exhibiting the highest levels of CREB and/or ATF1, the number of copies of the CREB and ATF1 genes will be determined, since many cancer causing genes are amplified, meaning there are more than the normal single copy of the gene present. The techniques employed in this project will be protein analysis using PAGE, western blot analysis and molecular biology techniques.

Supervisor: Dr Theo Mantamadiotis