Bone remodeling is regulated by various factors and mechanisms, among which the RANK/RANKL/OPG system plays an important role. In case of its inadequate regulation, the expression of RANKL protein may increase and therefore increases the formation and activity of osteoclasts. That increases bone degradation and can lead to the formation of bone diseases, e.g. osteoporosis. The expression of RANKL gene (TNFSF11) is regulated by its promoter region, since it contains various regulatory elements. Those enable binding of various transcription factors that inhibit or accelerate its expression. In promotor region of TNFSF11 gene there is also a structure called G-quadruplex. Various studies show, that it has a major influence on the expression of different genes. The purpose of this thesis was to determine the effect of G-quadruplex changes in the RANKL gene (TNFSF11) on activation of its promoter region. Additionally we wanted to analyze the influence of SNPs rs2296533 in rs9533157, located near G-quadruplex, and determine whether these changes affect activation of the promoter as well. In order to analyze the influence of G-quadruplex in the promoter region of TNFSF11 gene, we conducted mutation analysis of the promoter region and measured the promoter activity by dual luciferase test in three mammalian cell lines – HeLa, A549 and HOS. In our experiments we used plasmid vectors pGL3 that contained part of the TNFSF11 gene promoter region. With mutagenesis in TNFSF11 gene promoter, we created mutations in various parts of G-quadruplex as well as in polymorphic SNPs (rs2296533 and rs9533157). Prepared plasmids were then transfected into all three mammalian cell lines. Their influence on activation of the promoter region of TNFSF11 gene was measured by using a double luciferase test. All tested mutations in HeLa and A549 mammalian cell lines increased (RANGdel, RANG1T, RANG4T, RANG1234T and individual SNPs rs2296533 and rs9533157) or decreased (RANG2713T and a double mutation rs2296533, rs9533157) the activity of promoter. However, their effect was not so prominent in HOS cells. Our results have shown that G-quadruplex with a normal nucleotide sequence reduces promoter activity and even the slightest change in the sequence greatly changes its activity. With the analysis of SNPs (rs2296533 and rs9533157), we have found that these two polymorphisms also influence the activity of RANKL promoter. Our findings confirm that the three-dimensional structure of nucleotide sequences is also important for promoter activity and can contribute to better genetic detection of individuals with increased bone degradation or increased risk of osteoporosis.
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