Biology Project Abstract

BACTERIAL PROTEINS AZURIN AND CYTOCHROME F, TUMOR SUPPRESSOR PROTEIN P53, AND THE INDUCTION OF APOPTOSIS IN HUMAN CANCER CELLS

Presenter:

Chirag Shukla, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, 1500 West Sullivan Road, Aurora, IL, 60506; cshukla@imsa.edu

Mentors:

Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty, University of Illinois College of Medicine, 835 S. Wolcott # E601, Chicago, IL, 60612; 312-996-4586; pseudomo@uic.edu

Dr. Tohru Yamanda, University of Illinois College at Chicago, 825 S. Wolcott, Chicago, IL, 60612

Abstract:

The use of live bacteria in the treatment of cancer has an interesting history. The first known use of bacteria for tumor suppression, and probably the most cited case goes back to 1898, when Dr. William Coley reported that various forms of tumors regressed when infected with bacterial pathogens. It is known that the bacterial redox protein azurin is cytotoxic towards human cancer cells. Azurin is a copper based protein. Dr. Yamada and I found that cytochrome f, another bacterial redox protein, which is iron-based, is also cytotoxic to cancer cells. Here we report the effects of the presence of cancer suppressor protein p53 upon azurin, and cytochrome f cytotoxicity. We found that the cytotoxicity of azurin is dependant upon the tumor suppressor protein p53, which induces apoptosis in human cancer cells as it forms complexes with azurin. On the other hand, we determined that the cytotoxicity of cytochrome f is independent of p53. This discovery poses new questions as to why and how two very different proteins affect tumors in similar ways. It would also be interesting to see the effect of cytochrome f on cancerous tumors in vivo. Dr. Yamada and I will continue to pursue this subject in the future and try to provide answers to the questions generated by this discovery. This discovery has great significance as cytochrome f could potentially be used in the treatment of cancers that have a mutant form of p53, such as the cancers of the breast, cervix, colon, lung, liver, prostate, bladder, and skin.