Regulation of Genes

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Dr. Muhammad Mustafa

Member Single National Curriculum Committee (SNCC)

Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training

EmailAssistant Professor School of LIfe SciencesForman Christian College (A Chartered University) Lahore Pakistan

Research Interest

We are investigating the role of developmental proteins (e.g., HOXA10) in regulation of tumor suppressors (e.g. p53) to identify the molecular mechanisms fueling metastasis in breast cancer. The study reveals novel therapeutic targets for drug industry to fight against the leading cause of cancer deaths in Pakistan. Epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressors by chromatin remodeling proteins like CTCF is an active area to find potential locations for gene therapy in cancers. In another front we have established a functional relationship of CFTR gene with male infertility disease CBAVD and working to unveil the signaling cascades involved in disease onset.

Featured Image

CTCF knock down dependent expression of p53 results in cancer cell death by isolating cancer cell from the surrounding with decreased ITGB4 expression

Theme (Mustafa et.al., J Cancer 2017; 8(11):2124-2131)

Figure S6. Expression and localization of ITGB4 in MCF-7 cells. (A) mRNA expression level of ITGB4 and CTCF in control non-specific (Control-NS) and CTCF-knockdown (CTCF-KD) cells. (B) Confocal microscopy images showing ITGB4 and p53 in Control-NS and CTCF-KD cells. Antibodies against p53 (sc-126; Santa Cruz,), ITGB4 (ab133682; Abcam) and the corresponding secondary antibodies (anti-rabbit IgG Alexa Flour 594 and anti-goat IgG Alexa Flour 488; Invitrogen) were used for detection. Cells were counterstained with DAPI (Invitrogen) and analyzed using a Zeiss LSM700 confocal microscope.Zoomed images of square boxes in c and g are shown in i-l and m-p, respectively.

Our Contribution

CTCF is a Transcriptional inhibitor of HOXA10 as well as p53, it binds directly to the promoter region of these two tumor suppressors, interferes with RNA pol II and supports the recruitment of inactive epigenetic markers at the promoter region. Cancer cell use higher levels of CTCF to turn off these critical tumor suppressors to promote their survival and proliferation.

Publications

Fatima Mohsin, Sheza Javaid, Mishal Tairq Muhammad Mustafa Molecular immunological mechanisms of impaired wound healing in diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), current therapeutic strategies and future directions. International Immunopharmacology 2024 Full Text
Muhammad Mustafa , Sadaf Sarfraz, Gullelalah Saleem, Touqeer Ahmad Khan, Damiya Shahid, Saba Taj,Noor Amir. Beyond Milk and Nurture: Breastfeeding’s Powerful Impact on Breast Cancer. Geburtsh Frauenheilk 2024; 84: 541–554, DOI 10.1055/a-2313-0637 Full Text PDF
Mustafa, M., Nadeem, M.S., Asif, A., Kazmi, I. (2023). Epigenetics of Influenza: The Host-Virus Interaction.. In: Gupta, G., Oliver, B.G., Dua, K., Ali, M.K., Dave, P. (eds) Targeting Epigenetics in Inflammatory Lung Diseases. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4780-5_10 Book Full Text
Abeer Asif, Shaifa Saleem, Ayesha Abdul Qadir Memon, Muhammad Mustafa, Arif Mahmood, Ghulam Rasool Bhurgri, Fahad Jibran Siyal, Muhammad Osama, & Calvin R. Wei. (2023). Significance Of Dietary Factors In Occurrence, Prevention And Treatment Of Esophageal Carcinoma. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 30(1), 676–697. DOI https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v30i1.3103 Full Text
Tahreem Fiaz, Muhammad Shahid Nadeem........ Muhammad Mustafa. Peripheral mRNA expression and Prognostic Significance of Emotional Stress Biomarkers in Metastatic Breast Cancer Patient. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(22), 14097; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232214097 Full Text
Abeer Asif, Iqra Ilyas, Muhammad Abdullah, Sadaf Sarfraz, Arif Mahmood and Muhammad Mustafa The Comparison of Mutational Progression in SARS-CoV-2: A Short Updated Overview J. Mol. Pathol. 2022, 3(4), 201-218; Full Text
Rimsha Farooq . Khadim Hussain . Muhammad Tariq . Ali Farooq and Muhammad Mustafa

CRISPR/Cas9: targeted genome editing for the treatment of hereditary hearing loss

(J Appl Genetics, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13353-019-00535-6)

Muhammad Mustafa, Ji-Yeon Lee, Clara Yuri Kim and Myoung Hee Kim. Depletion of CTCF in Breast Cancer Cells Selectively Induces Cancer Cell Death via p53 (J Cancer, 2017) Full Text
Muhammad Mustafa, Ji-Yeon Lee and Myoung Hee Kim CTCF negatively regulates HOXA10 expression in breast cancer cell lines (BBRC, 2015) Full Text
Muhammad Mustafa, Ji-Yeon Lee and Myoung Hee Kim CTCF regulates HOXA10 expression in breast cancer cell lines (the FEBS Journal (Special Issue) Volume 282 Supplement 1 Page 60, July 2015)
Abdul Rauf, Muhammad Shahid Nadeem, Akbar Ali, Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Mustafa,Muhammad Muzammal Latif, Muhammad Zahid Latif, Nisar Ahmed and Abdul Rauf Shakoori. Prevalence of hepatitis B and C in internally displaced persons of war against terrorism in Swat, Pakistan Eur J Public Health 21(5) 638-42 2011
M.S. Nadeem, A. Rauf, M. Mustafa., M. Iqbal and A.R. Shakoori. 2010.Selective precipitation based economical methods for purification of Human Serum Albumin from the out-dated blood bank samples. Pakistan Journal of Zoology 42(4), pp. 498-501.