Evaluation of Ras compartmentalization through nitric oxide donors and inducible nitric-oxide synthase activation at MDA-MD-231 tumor breast cells

• Grant number: 13/20633-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Hugo Pequeno Monteiro
• Grantee: Scheilla Teixeira Strumillo
• Host Institution: Centro de Terapia Celular e Molecular. Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Primitive experimental models of Ras compartmentalization have shown that this protein regulated signalling exclusively at the plasma membrane. The development of fluorescent probes allowed to estimate where and when Ras protein was activated in living cells. It was shown that distinct Ras localization unleashes diverse signalling pathways. Researches have confirmed these informations and have related Ras activation to cellular transformation at specific organelles, such as the Golgi apparatus. Nitric oxide (NO) donors have shown efficacy at Ras activation and compartmentalization at plasma membrane and Golgi Apparatus of cells. The proposal of this project is to evaluate Ras compartmentalization in normal and tumorous breast cells via Ras activation by NO donors or induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and establish a connection between Ras compartmentalization and the development of breast cancer tumorigenesis and invasiveness. (AU)