Grant: Master's Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Cancers often result when DNA in our cells become damaged. In response to DNA damage, cells normally have a way of detecting the location of damage and repairing it through a process appropriately termed the 'DNA damage response'. However, when the extent of DNA damage is too great, or when there are errors in the DNA damage response pathway, DNA is left unrepaired, which can ultimately lead to complications that result in tumour development. My research will focus on a protein called H2A.X, which is speculated to regulate the DNA damage response when a smaller protein called ubiquitin attaches to it. This modification of H2A.X is referred to as H2A.X monoubiquitylation. Exactly how H2A.X monoubiquitylation regulates the DNA damage response remains unclear. To help figure this out, I want to determine other proteins that interact with monoubiquitylated H2A.X. To do so, I will be developing and testing a novel technique that will be used to purify monoubiquitylated H2A.X proteins from cells. If this technique is successful, novel monoubiquitylated H2A.X-interacting proteins will be discovered, giving us greater insight into the roles of H2A.X monoubiquitylation in DNA repair. This knowledge may be useful for the development of cancer therapies, since H2A.X monoubiquitylation appears to play a tumour-suppressive role in cells.