Evaluation of angiogenesis in an Ex-Ovo Chick Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) assay to study the MMP9 gene in pediatric cancer cell lines

Authors

Franchesca Tinacba, St. Mary's University
Kahlie Hernandez, St. Mary's University
Terry Jo Shackleford, St. Mary's University

Files

Contributor

Terry Jo Shackleford

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Publication Date

Spring 2025

Keywords

organism; disease; Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) ; Chicken embryos; Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) ;

Description

Model organisms are widely utilized in cancer research due to their ability to allow researchers to study biological processes that occur within cancer progression. One model organism that is used is the Chorioallantoic Membrane (CAM) assays. Chicken embryos are a sufficient model that are used to study processes such as angiogenesis, tumor growth, and drug effects. What makes these models useful is due to the cost efficiency, accessibility, and the increased speed the blood vessels can grow. Despite the results, it can be difficult to image the results or monitor the CAM assay. That is why Ex-ovo CAM assays have been an excellent choice for imaging/monitoring the CAM within the embryo. The Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) is an important protein with enzymatic activity that’s regulated by a class of endogenous proteins, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPS). These endogenous proteins are found within the components of living cells. The MMP9 family has also been shown to be a biomarker that may predict disease progression. When there is an imbalance of the MMP9 protein in the cell, cancer properties begin to form. We propose to utilize the CAM assay for the evaluation of the role of MMP9 in the angiogenesis process in pediatric sarcomas.

Format

pdf

Size

1 page

City

San Antonio, Texas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.