Morais, Nuno Luís Barbosa, 1977-Paulo, Octávio, 1963-Ferrão, José Cândido de Oliveira Alves2024-04-102024-04-1020242023http://hdl.handle.net/10451/64137Tese de mestrado, Bioinformática e Biologia Computacional , 2023, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de CiênciasCellular senescence is a stable cell cycle arrest that can be induced by a variety of stress signals, to avoid further genomic instability and accumulation of DNA damage. However, senescent cells tend to accumulate with age, creating a tissue microenvironment that is permissive to the development or progression of cancer. The INK4A/ARF locus is one of the most frequently mutated sites in human cancers and encodes two protein isoforms, p16 and ARF, both involved in cell cycle arrest, respectively through the p16/Rb and p53/p21 pathways. The focus of this project was studying senescence by analysing RNA sequencing data obtained from a dataset including senescent samples induced with different stimuli. We were able to distinguish between non-senescent and senescent conditions by estimating p16 and ARF transcript expression levels. We identified genes that may be associated with p16 and ARF, although some of them had already been described as having a role in senescence regulation, such as the SASP factor GDF15, the long non-coding RNA MIAT, or even transcription factors previously associated specifically with INK4A/ARF, for instance, EZH2 and SP1. We have also identified two other gene candidates that may be associated with p16 and ARF, namely MEIS2 a transcription factor previously known to enhance effectiveness of different anti-cancer drugs when downregulated in a multiple myeloma human cell line. And also, KRTAP2-3, previously found to inhibit proliferation and increasing migration of oral cancer cells via induction of epithelial to mesenchymal transition. These findings agree with recent studies that have shown that senescent cells can contribute to metastatic dissemination and colonization. The pathways we found to be associated with either p16 or ARF, namely related to immune response, cell cycle arrest, metabolic deregulation, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition, could represent potential targets for senolytic therapies in the context of ageing diseases and cancer.engSenescênciaINK4A/ARFSequenciação de RNACancroTeses de mestrado - 2024master thesis203881915203881915