Investigation of the Role of DREAM Gene in differentiated thyroid Cancer

• Grant number: 11/20704-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2012
• End date: December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Medical Clinics
• Principal Investigator: Laura Sterian
• Grantee: Fernando de Assis Batista
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The incidence of thyroid diseases has increased in the last years, and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC) diagnosis is one of the fastest-growing worldwide. DREAM is a protein found in different cellular compartments in which play different roles. In the nucleus, DREAM has the ability to bind to specific DNA sites (DREs), preventing the transcription of target genes. Outside the nucleus, DREAM interacts with Kv4 potassium channels to regulate their expression in the membrane and opening and presenilins to release Ca2 + from the rough endoplasmic reticulum. The expression of DREAM is found in the central nervous system, immune organs, testes, and thyroid gland, where it modulates the transcriptional activity of thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) and represses gene expression of thyroglobulin. Recently it was shown that increased expression of DREAM is related to gland enlargement and nodular development. However, the role of the gene in thyroid cancer is still largely unknown. The objective of this study is to investigate the occurrence of somatic and germline mutations in the DREAM gene in patients with DTC. The molecular study of DREAM will use the technique of sequencing of DNA extracted from peripheral blood and tumor tissues of 100 DTC patients.(AU)