Honors Program Theses

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Open Access Honors Program Thesis

First Advisor

Theresa Spardling

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out if spontaneously arising point mutations occurred in canine e-kit and if these mutations contributed to the development of mast cell tumors in dogs. Specimens were collected from 11 dogs after tumors had been surgically removed or the dog had died. The e-kit DNA was amplified using PCR, and the previously established point mutations were searched for (London et al., 1999). The point mutations found in human mast cell lines were not detected in the canine e-kit DNA, but new mutations were observed. These new mutations, observed in 50% of the tumors, were tandem duplications in exons 11 and 12 of e-kit (London et al., 1999). Each DNA sample had a unique 45-70 base pair duplication at the 3' end of exon 11, which caused an aberrant product to be produced (London et al., 1999). These mutations provide evidence that e-kit may play a role in the development of spontaneous canine mast cell tumors, but their specific effect remains unknown.

Year of Submission

2005

Department

Department of Biology

University Honors Designation

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the designation University Honors

Comments

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Date Original

5-2005

Object Description

1 PDF file (31 pages)

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