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Properties of Chromatin Extracted by Salt Fractionation from both Cancerous and Non-cancerous Esophageal Cell Lines

ORAL

Abstract

The National Institute of Health estimates that approximately 38.4{\%} of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes. While cancer is mostly viewed as a genetic disease characterized by genetic markers and expression of mutant proteins, there is considerable evidence that there is more to cancer than somatic mutations. For example, the first signature looked for by a pathologist is grossly aberrant cell nuclei. It has been shown that the more abnormal a particular cell nucleus is, the more aggressive a particular form of cancer is. A major variable in the overall nuclear structure is chromatin compaction and structure. We compared chromatin compaction and structure for two esophageal cell lines, EPC2 (non-cancerous) and CP-D (cancerous) by using a combination of salt fractionation and atomic force microscopy (AFM) and found significant differences in the chromatin morphology of cancerous and non-cancerous cell lines. We anticipate that our results will help to gain insight into the mechanisms of phenotypic change in cells from normal to cancerous.

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Authors

  • Emily Luffey

    Department of Physics, Arizona State University

  • Abdul Qadeer Rehan

    University of Tennessee, University of York, Old Dominion University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Old Dominion University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Physics - University of Sao Paulo, Naval Research Laboratory, St. Cloud State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Space Sciences Laboratory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, University of Maryland - Baltimore County, Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Federal University of Bahia; University of Brasília, Federal University of Bahia, Department of Applied Physics, Yale University & Department of Physics, Yale University, Theoretical Division and Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & Current affiliation: Seagate Research Group, Seagate Technology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Applied Physics, Yale University, Swarthmore College, Western Washington University, Departments of Chemistry and Physics and The Baruch 60 Center for Biochemical Solar Energy Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Florida, Wayne State University, Vanderbilt University, University of Maryland, College Park, NASA GSFC, CfA, California Institute of Technology, Skidmore College, Durham University, University of Alberta, University of Michigan, Curtin University, Michigan State University, University of Nevada, University of Chicago, Duke University, Cornell, Pennsylvania State University, New York University Abu Dhabi, NASA Ames Research Center, Kenyon Coll, Kenyon College, University of Texas at Austin, Flatiron Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania, HERA, HERA, Rochester Institute of Technology, Howard Community College, Carleton College, California State University at Long Beach, Bishop Ireton High School, Fayetteville State University, Univ of Oklahoma, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Carnegie Observatories, San Diego State University, Associate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NTT Basic Research Laboratories and NTT Research Center for Theoretical Quantum Physics, JILA, University of Colorado, 440 UCB, Boulder, CO, Department of Physics, 390 UCB University of Colorado, University of Washington, James Franck Institute, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago Department of Physics, Princeton University, Department of Physics, Arizona State University, Indiana Univ - Bloomington, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Harvard University, Nagoya University, Toyota Technological Institute, University of Tokyo, Zhejiang University, Clark University, Natl Univ of Singapore, University of Richmond

  • Stuart Lindsay

    Biodesign Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, Arizona State University

  • Robert Ros

    Department of Physics, Arizona State University