Hannah Mearns

• BSc (Hons) Biomedical Sciences with an Industrial Placement Year
• Is the 5’UTR of HIF1α mRNA important for HIF1α regulation?

HIF1α is an important cellular protein, whose levels are upregulated in response to hypoxic stress (lack of oxygen) and this response is key to the survival of many cancer cells.

In cells, mRNA is the code used to make proteins. The 5’UTR (untranslated region) of mRNA is the part that comes before the protein-encoding section and for many proteins it has been linked to protein level regulation.  

The aim of this project was to investigate the importance of the 5’UTR of HIF1α mRNA in regulating HIF1α protein levels. CRISPR Cas9 was used to delete sections of the HIF1α 5’UTR and then the response of the cells to hypoxic stress was tested by looking at HIF1α protein level changes.

Results suggest the 5’UTR is important in upregulating HIF1α protein levels, however more research is needed to determine the specific region responsible.

Funding: Newcastle University

Supervisor: Dr Niall Kenneth