Page 48 - SDIR5 Abstract book 21 12 2021.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS

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Evaluation of differential transcriptional regulator binding to alternative CD81 gene
promoters

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Emilija Jovanovic , Tamara Babic , Aleksandra Nikolic
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1 Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Background: Understanding alternative transcription initiation could lead to better understanding of
carcinogenesis, and may serve to discover novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cancer. Gene CD81
encodes for a member of the tetraspanin protein family with multiple biological activities implicated in
cancer. Transcription of CD81 is regulated by two alternative promoters indicated by in silico analyses to
be differentially active in colon and rectal cancer tissue. This study aimed to investigate transcriptional
regulator binding to alternative CD81 gene promoters in silico. Material and Methods: The nucleotide
sequences of promoters of interest were analyzed using GPMiner and the Eukaryotic Promoter Database.
Six bioinformatics tools were used to predict the binding of transcriptional regulators to alternative CD81
gene promoters: Alggen, AliBaba, CiiiDER, MATCH, TFBIND, Tfsitescan. For each transcriptional regulator,
only the positive findings obtained with at least two software were taken into consideration. Results: The
analysis of characteristic promoter elements in alternative CD81 gene promoters indicate atypical structure
in the promoter A and typical in the promoter B. According to the software prediction, 14 proteins
predominantly involved in cell cycle regulation and development bind to the promoter A, while 8 proteins
mostly responsive to stimuli bind to the promoter B. Conclusion: The profile of predicted transcriptional
regulators binding to alternative CD81 promoters may explain their differential regulation in colorectal
cancer. These results indicate that alternative CD81 transcripts may serve as cancer biomarkers, while
proteins binding to the promoter A can further be investigated as therapeutic targets.
Keywords: alternative transcription initiation, CD81, promoter, transcriptional regulator
Acknowledgement: This research was supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, PROMIS,
#6052315, SENSOGENE.

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