Isolation of total and polysomal mRNA from breast tumor and normal samples followed by libraries construction for RNA sequencing

• Grant number: 15/11245-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: August 14, 2015
• End date: February 02, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Glaucia Noeli Maroso Hajj
• Grantee: Hermano Martins Bellato
• Supervisor: Ola Larsson
• Host Institution: A C Camargo Cancer Center. Fundação Antonio Prudente (FAP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/04513-5 - Identification of molecular alterations in breast tumors: a translational approach, BP.DD

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most prevalent type among the female sex and has a unique complexity, with considerable heterogeneity. Breast tumors are classified into molecular subgroups for the better targeting of the therapeutic choice. However, even among patients of the same group there is a wide range of prognostic and therapeutic behavior, demonstrating a real need to identify more precise biomarkers. The discovery of new molecular markers for this disease can both contribute to a better understanding of biological mechanisms, as well as the development of individualized therapies. Currently, many high throughput projects try to define general patterns of gene expression based on total RNA sequencing or microarrays. However, this approach provides limited information about the molecular mediators of tumor changes, considering that the levels of mRNA expression do not necessarily correspond the levels of protein expressed. Moreover, the identification of differentially translated mRNAs in tumors can lead to the determination of gene expression profiles that best reflect the population of proteins. Thus, in this project we intend to isolate mRNAs preferentially translated in human breast tumors from the Biobank of the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center for future RNA-seq. These results will allow us to define expression profiles that can be correlated with tumor features and also guide the discovery of proteins with altered expression that could be important mediators of tumor processes. This approach has the potential to be a powerful tool applied to the clinic, for the development of therapeutical approaches. (AU)