Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi!

I’m a freshman interested in pursuing a science project this year.
I have done a lot of online research so far and have come up with a couple of questions...

1) Is there a cost-effective way to model cancer? Actually, for my experiment, I want to create a stressful environment. Like a cancer does. However, pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines (from humans and mice) are quite expensive! Is there another way?

2) I also looked up regulation of gene expression. I understood post transcriptional regulation with RNAi but did not understand pre transcriptional regulation, like transcriptor proteins and the acetylation/methylination of histone proteins. Could you please help me comprehend all the details of gene regulation?

Thank you so much in advance!!!!

Hi Kanmit!

Thank you so very much for your questions! I'm very impressed by the amount of research you've done so far, so let's see how I can help:

1. It seems to me that you're looking to do in vitro studies (using cell lines as an experimental model). Unfortunately, there is no cost-effective way (at least for somebody at your level) to do these types of experiment. Plus, there's a ton of red tape to go through in order for you to even have any of these materials to conduct your research. I will suggest contacting a nearby university/college. Many faculty members of these institutions are doing research and a good amount of these people have probably worked with cancer cell lines. Reaching out to these researchers can heighten your chances of being able to do these studies, especially if you found something relatively novel! Email these professors and tell them that you're looking to do a project and would like some advice on how to go about doing so. If anything, this may be a cost-effective way for you to do this and most university researchers are willing to help out.

2. Gene regulation is essentially how a gene can be turned on or off. Transcriptional regulation with RNA interference (or RNAi) is one way to turn a gene off (or knock out/knockdown). The basic usage of this technique is just to see what exactly does this particular gene do when it's turned on and what happens when it's turned off. Very much a technique widely used on the research platform... provided if they have yet to transition to CRISPR/Cas9 (a very hot topic in science!). What are the effects? is essentially what one would ask if they were looking at gene expression. Now, acetylation/methylation of histone proteins are these regulatory gatekeepers of genes. These are mechanisms that are implemented by the cell such that certain genes will remain off until needed. DNA is wrapped very tightly around these histone proteins as a means to regulate gene expression, protection and of course, to save space... Acetylation, in the simplest explanation, allows access to certain genes. An acetyl functional group is placed onto the histone, which subsequently augments the charge on the histone by making it less positive. The negatively charged DNA is no longer attracted to the histone and therefore begins to go into a relaxed state, exposing the genes that can now be accessed for transcription (turning genes on). This process is reversed when the acetyl group is removed. Methylation is just the opposite. While it does regulate gene expression, it does it where access to certain genes are prohibited. Same principle, a methyl group is placed on the DNA molecule, blocking transcription factor proteins from allowing this gene to be expressed.

I hope these helped answer your questions! Wishing you all the best!

Thank you so much! This really helped!

I just had one follow-up question. Could I test the effects of acetylation on the amount of a certain protein in a cell? Like is it possible to artificially acetylate a gene?

Thanks!!!!!

Hi again!

I had one more question. How do I create miRNA or siRNA for a specific gene? Is there a tool I use or do I order it online?

Thanks!