Molecular and Computational Studies on Apoptotic Pathway Regulator, Bcl-2 Gene from Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF-7

Cancer is a dreadful disease constituting abnormal growth and proliferation of malignant cells in the body. Next to lung cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting women. The apoptotic pathway regulators, B cell lymphoma family of protein, play a key role in various malignancies defining cancer and their constitutive expression plays an integral role in breast cancer chemotherapy. The research work discusses the identification and molecular cloning of a B cell lymphoma like gene from human breast cancer cell line. The open reading frame of the gene consisted of 965 nucleotides, encoding a protein of 380 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 42.5 kilodalton. The predicted physiochemical properties of the gene were as follows: Isoelectric point - 9.49, molecular formula - C(1893)H(3004)N(534)O(548)S(16,) total number of negatively charged residues, (Aspartate+Glutamate) - 26, total number of positively charged residues, (Arginine+Lysine)-39, instability index-42.08 (unstable protein) and grand average of hydropathicity is -0.202. Additionally, phobius prediction suggested non-cytoplasmic localization of the putative protein. The presence of secondary structure in the protein was determined by Memsat program. A 3 dimensional protein homology model was generated using threading based method of protein modeling for structural and functional annotation of the putative protein. Future prospects accounts for the biochemical characterization of the enzyme including in vitro assays on breast cancer cell line would establish the functional characteristics of the protein and its physiological mechanisms in breast cancer development and its therapeutic-target role in future.