Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Transiently Inducing RYBP Expression in Glioblastoma Cells Affects Invasion and Migration

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a malignant, highly invasive form of brain cancer. GBM tumors are diffuse, with tendril-like processes that extend into healthy brain tissue. In GBM patients, expression of the RING1-and YY1-Binding Protein (RYBP) is downregulated compared to noncancerous brain tissue. Previous studies show that RYBP acts as a tumor suppressor gene in various solid tumors. Therefore, we investigated whether transiently inducing RYBP expression in GBM cells would reduce migration and invasion. We transfected either an empty vector control or RYBP-expressing plasmids into U-87 and U-118 MG glioblastoma cell lines to transiently force RYBP expression. Twenty-four hours after transfection, total protein was isolated and analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot to verify RYBP expression. A wound-healing assay was performed to measure differences in cell migration and cells were imaged after 24 and 48 hours. We also performed Boyden chamber assays to measure differences in cell invasion.