ATTENTION/WARNING - NE PAS DÉPOSER ICI/DO NOT SUBMIT HERE

Ceci est la version de TEST de DIAL.mem. Veuillez ne pas soumettre votre mémoire sur ce site mais bien à l'URL suivante: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
This is the TEST version of DIAL.mem. Please use the following URL to submit your master thesis: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
 

Molecular Modalities of HOX Protein Activity: Searching for HOXA1, HOXA2 and HOXA5 Interactors

Bibaud, Natascha
(2025)

Files

Bibaud_51372000_2025.pdf
  • Closed access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 3.85 MB

Details

Supervisors
Rezsohazy, René
Faculty
Faculté des sciences
Degree label
Master [120] en biochimie et biologie moléculaire et cellulaire, à finalité approfondie
Abstract
Hox genes are key regulators of embryonic development. They play a significant role in defining the anterior-posterior axis during development as well as being crucial for organogenesis. In this thesis, the molecular modalities of three HOX proteins - HOXA1, HOXA2 and HOXA5 are being investigated. Despite sharing a conserved homeodomain, individual HOX proteins exhibit distinct regulatory roles. The specificity of HOX proteins is hypothesized to arise from their interactions with other proteins. To investigate this, we employed the proximity labelling technique Turbo-ID to identify the interactomes of HOXA1, HOXA2, and HOXA5. The fusion protein is first characterized through its expression, localisation and transcriptional activity. Proximity labelling conducted in P19 cells provided a list of candidate interactors. We obtained an overview of the interactants by performing a Gene Ontology analysis, revealing many interactors involved in transcriptional regulation as well as signalling pathways, including the Wnt pathway. The dataset established here will serve as a valuable resource for future studies. Furthermore, the HOX protein of interest in this master’s thesis are known to be involved in breast cancer when up- or down-regulated. To further investigate their roles in this specific context, this study extends the interactomic analysis to human breast cancer cells, as it could help explain the role of these HOX proteins in cancer. Preliminary findings from this aspect of the research are presented.