Glowing Koi of Cancer Cells

My project focused on the regulation of DNA Topoisomerase II (Top2) protein, one of the important targets for anticancer drugs. Top2 inhibitors can bind to Top2-DNA complex in cancer cells and inhibit their proliferation. The manipulation of Top2 expression in cancer cells will give us more insight into its role in cancer biology. I first transduced a shTop2 construct into the genome of MCF-7 breast cancer cells which can inhibit the generation of Top2 protein in the cells. Furthermore, I introduced a pLV-tTR-KRAB-Red construct into these modified cells which is an approach to turn on/ off Top2 gene expression into those shTop2modified breast cancer cells. In this image, MCF-7 breast cancer cells with integration of pLV-tTR-KRAB-Red construct emit red fluorescent and can be detected under the fluorescent microscope. These MCF-7 breast cancer cells were grown and maintained in cell culture dish and at the time I monitored the expression of pLV-tTR-KRAB-Red construct inside MCF-7 breast cancer cells, these cells happened to form this “Koi” shape by many cells. The dark circles represent the nucleus of each cell.