LE3 .A278 2021

2021

Coombs, Melanie

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and colorectal cancer deaths are the second highest among all cancer deaths in the world. Copy number alteration (CNA) and methylation likely play a major role in cancer development and progression. Dysregulation in the mismatch repair pathway is associated with colorectal cancer. This paper examines the dysregulation of forkhead box Q1 (FOXQ1) and exonuclease 1 (EXO1 ) gene expression, their correlation to CNA and methylation, and the impact on patient survival. cBioPortal, Oncomine, gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) and GraphPad Prism were used to obtaining cancer patient data, compare gene expression in tumor tissue and normal tissue, construction of plots and statistical analysis. FOXQ1 is highly upregulated in colorectal cancer and high expression of FOXQ1 correlates with again of CNA, low methylation and tumor metastasis. Upregulation of FOXQ1 promotes tumor metastasis and is significantly associated with poor patient survival. EXO1 is upregulated in multiple cancers and impacts patient survival in colorectal adenocarcinoma, thymoma, cervical squamous cell carcinoma, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, breast invasive carcinoma, sarcoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and liver hepatocellular carcinoma. CNA and methylation of EXO1 correlate with the mRNA expression of EXO1 and contribute to patient survival in several cancers. Low methylation of EXO1, for example, significantly associates with poor patient survival in liver hepatocellular carcinoma. Future research should focus on developing a FOXQ1 inhibiting cancer therapy and understanding EXO1 function and signaling pathways in various cancers.

The author retains copyright in this thesis. Any substantial copying or any other actions that exceed fair dealing or other exceptions in the Copyright Act require the permission of the author.

https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3665