UROP Proceedings 2021-22

School of Science Division of Life Science 11 Molecular Regulation of Muscle Stem Cell Quiescence by Non-coding RNAs Supervisor: CHEUNG Tom / LIFS Student: CHEUNG Lok To Curtis / BCB Course: UROP1100, Summer Muscle stem cells are often found in quiescence, a cellular state which exists in a dormant, reversible G0 cell cycle state outside of the cell cycle. Quiescent muscle stem cells could be activated and enter the cell cycle for proliferation or activation, fulfilling the tissue homeostasis and repair role of stem cells. It is important to understand the various governing mechanism by which quiescent stem cells rely on to switch between quiescent and activated states in order to further the research on the application of adult stem cell rejuvenation. In this report, we will discuss how autophagy, one of the proposed mechanisms could be correlated to the muscle stem cells' cell fate and their autophagy flux, using FACS isolated mice adult skeletal stem cells. Molecular Regulation of Muscle Stem Cell Quiescence by Non-coding RNAs Supervisor: CHEUNG Tom / LIFS Student: CHIU Yui Hei / BIOT Course: UROP1100, Fall M2 is a potential anti-cancer drug candidate studied in Dr Liang Chun’s laboratory. The drug candidate shows its exceptional potential and specificity in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, particularly Hela cells. However, the long-term use of the drug exhibits a critical issue– Drug resistance. Previously, 2-8, 4-5 and 56 clones from the R10 population (Highest drug resistance HeLa population available in our laboratory) were studied in depth through various assays, confirming their morphology. This project devoted itself into studying another two clones; 2-9, 4-4 in comparison with the HeLa population by conducting various assays. We found that 2-9 and 4-4 exhibited similar trends as the previous R10 clones with slower growth, higher survivability after drug treatment and smaller in size. Unlike the previous clones, 2-9 and 4-4 exhibited different behaviours implying different degree of resistance to the M2 drug. Molecular Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Stem Cell Quiescence and Activation Supervisor: CHEUNG Tom / LIFS Student: TSE Chun Mong / IRE Course: UROP1100, Summer Pax7 is a marker of satellite cells (SC)1, so in order to aid the study of SC, transgenic Tg:Pax7-nGFP mice was developed. Expression of nuclear localised EGFP (nGFP) transgene corresponds with that of the endogenous Pax7 gene2, thus marks SC with green fluorescent protein (GFP). However, GFP signals may not fully represent Pax7 expression6. Here, we would like to see to what extent does GFP marks Pax7, taking this to wrap up things done in this summer.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDk5Njg=