Access Type

Open Access Thesis

Date of Award

January 2013

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Department

Nutrition and Food Science

First Advisor

Diane Cabelof

Abstract

Folate is a water-soluble vitamin B that plays a critical roles in the de novo nucleotide synthesis, DNA repair, DNA methylation, and cellular growth. By involved in the one-carbon metabolic pathways, folate influences the thymidine monophosphate (dTMP) and the purine nucleotides synthesis, consequently affect the DNA synthesis and repair. Through the one-carbon pathway, the folate level also influences the DNA methylation, consequently affect the gene expression.

In this study, we inspected the change of gene expression of 14 genes which are related to the folate metabolism in two different cell lines. One is MEF cell line and the other one is BNL-C2 cell line. So that we could figure out the difference of gene expression change level between the MEF and BNL-CL2 cell lines when they suffer the folate depletion condition.

From the result we got, we can know that except from RFC, FPGS , SHMT1and MTHFD1, other 11 genes all have the similar gene expression change level between the MEF and BNL-CL2 cell lines when they suffer the folate depletion condition. The different gene expression of RFC between the two cell lines might due to liver needs to release the folate derivatives to other body part where dividing cell regularly such as skin cells. The difference of FPGS between two cell lines might due to liver is the central organ for folate homeostasis, the gene expression in liver won't change much even the cells are suffering folate depletion condition. However, skin cells needs large amount of folate or its derivatives to support the cell division or cell growth, when the skin cells suffer the folate depletion condition, skin cells might increase the gene expression of FPGS to reestablish the folate homeostasis. The difference of MTHFD1 and SHMT1 between two cell lines might due to liver is not the organ replicate cells so regularly like the skin cells, when the skin cells suffer the folate depletion condition, skin cells might increase the gene expression of MTHFD1 and SHMT1 to get more tetrahydrofolate and 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate which are substrates for de novo synthesis of methionine, thymidylate and purine.

Included in

Nutrition Commons

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