Evaluation of CIZ1 as a biomarker for neurological tumours

Falkingham, Natasha and Copeland, Nikki (2021) Evaluation of CIZ1 as a biomarker for neurological tumours. Masters thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

Glioblastoma is most common type of brain tumour with an extremely poor prognosis due to lack of effective treatment options. CIZ1, a protein found to be implicated in a range of cancers, has been identified as a potential biomarker. CIZ1 has a role in the replication of DNA and cell cycle control through the coordination of cyclin A and E within the nucleus. This study will evaluate the use of CIZ1 as a biomarker in advanced glioblastoma. Immunohistochemistry showed that CIZ1 expression is increased in 6/6 FFPE tissue sections. In FFPE patient samples CIZ1 is expressed primarily in the cytoplasm, and that its expression can be used to distinguish between normal and tumour cells. In addition, using primary glioblastoma cells (BTNW914) depletion of CIZ1 reduced proliferation, suggesting that CIZ1 may promote tumour growth. Furthermore, preliminary evidence demonstrates that CIZ1 levels can be reduced by inhibition of CDK and DDK inhibitors that reduce CIZ1 levels in vitro. These results suggest that CIZ1 could be a potential useful diagnostic and prognostic biomarker and a target for therapeutic intervention.