Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science Honours

Faculty

Faculty of Computing, Health and Science

First Supervisor

Dr Melanie Ziman

Abstract

The Pax7 gene is critical for specification of both neurons in the mid-brain and skeletal muscle satellite cells. Several alternate transcripts are transcribed from the single gene. Previous studies have shown that the resultant alternate Pax7 isoforms differ in the structure of their paired domain (a DNA-binding domain that influences target gene selection), yet the functional significance of each isoform for specification of neurogenic and myogenic cell types remains unknown. Although previous studies have identified the presence of multiple alternate Pax7 transcripts in both neurogenic and myogenic cell lines, more research is necessary to understand the functional significance of the alternate Pax7 isoform that each transcript encodes. The aim of this research was to investigate DNA-binding differences of each Pax7 isoform to reveal it's specific contribution to embryonic development. A chromatin immunoprecipitation technique which purifies genomic fragments bound by individual Pax7 isoforms was employed, for the purpose of determining DNA-binding differences. Understanding the functional specificity of each Pax7 transcript is important as these transcripts are possible candidates for future stem cell/ gene therapy approaches aimed at developing novel treatments for Neurodegenerative diseases and Duchene Muscular Dystrophy.

Included in

Genetics Commons

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