Anup Shrestha

Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen:

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Steroid receptor co-activator-3 (SRC-3) is a protein often overexpressed in breast cancer and involved in breast cancer development. The activity of SRC-3 is regulated by enzymes called kinases. In this study, we identified MK2 as one of these kinases, and we used the genome editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 to remove SRC-3 from a breast cancer cell line to study this regulation in more detail. Cell lines where the normal and mutated version of SRC-3 was put back were also used to identify the functions of SRC-3 when regulated by MK2. We found that the activation of SRC-3 is involved in the expression of a factor responsible for inflammation, and that SRC-3 also regulates the sensitivity to a chemotherapeutic drug. Since drugs can be developed against kinases, our findings indicate that MK2 can be a possible target to modulate the functions of SRC-3, and thereby curb the progression of breast cancers overexpressing SRC-3.

Hovedveileder

Professor Ole Morten Seternes, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Biveiledere

Førsteamanuensis Hilde Ljones Wetting, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Professor Ingvild Mikkola, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Førsteamanuensis Henrike Bruckmüller, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Bedømmelseskomité

Professor Ana Cuenda, Department of Immunology and Oncology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología/CSIC, Madrid, Spain - 1. opponent.

Professor Jørn V. Sagen, Klinisk Institutt 2, UiB - 2. opponent.

Professor Morten B. Strøm, Institutt for farmasi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité.

Disputasleder: Lars Småbrekke, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet

Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.