Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine

Abstract

Metastatic cancers are problematic because they spread throughout the body. A crucial step in cancer metastasis is the separation of the cancer cells from their surrounding normal cells. This occurs due to suppression or destruction of cell adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin, occludin, and various claudins. The Snail and Slug transcription factors play a direct role in suppressing these cell adhesion molecules through their SNAG repression domain. We explored the possibility of developing an ELISA diagnostics capable of detecting soluble E-cadherin, occludin, and claudin fragments in the serum of cancer patients. Using several bioinformatics tools, unique extracellular antigenic sequences were identified on claudins-1, 4, 16, occludin, and E-cadherin. These sequences were cloned as GST fusion proteins, expressed, and purified in large quantities to raise antibodies. In parallel, expression profiling of metastatic cancer cell lines was carried out to derive a correlation between Snail-Slug expression and suppression of cell adhesion molecules.

Extent

x, 70 p. : ill. (some col.)

Comments

by Michael Irvine.|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Michael Irvine.

Identifier

FADT369191

Format

pdf

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