The long-term goal of this project is to understand the biological implications of the post-translational modifications of non-histone chromosomal high-mobility group (HMG) proteins. The HMG proteins are recognized as general transcription factors and they can adopt a number of post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation and glycosylation. Our hypothesis is that not only the expression, but also the post-translational modifications of HMG proteins, are correlated with cancer progression and malignant transformation. To test this hypothesis, we propose experiments according to the following specific aims:
Aim 1, to examine systematically the post-translational modifications of HMG proteins in both normal and cancer cells;
Aim 2, to investigate whether the level of expression and the nature of the post-translational modifications of HMG proteins are correlated with cancer progression;
Aim 3, to study the phosphorylation of HMG proteins by purified protein kinase in vitro and to examine the biological implications of the post-translational modifications of HMG proteins. As studies on histone post-translational modifications have led to a wealth of new insights into the mechanisms of transcription, we anticipate that a thorough characterization of the post-translational modifications of HMG proteins will pave the way for a better understanding of the role of these non-histone chromosomal proteins on transcriptional regulation and cancer development. In addition, the outcome of proposed studies may provide important molecular biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and prognosis.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 17 publications
