Novel MicroRNA Identified as Prostate Cancer Biomarker

Researchers based out of the United States identified a new microRNA as a key regulator of stemness and metastasis in prostate cancer cells. Microscopic view of a single mRNA strand. 3D Medical illustration Microscopic view of a single mRNA strand. 3D Medical illustration Listen to an audio version of this article In the United States, the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in men is prostate cancer. While new research and therapies are advancing, a large percentage of patients with this disease continue to progress to the advanced stages. usa hospitals lists For years, researchers have used biological indicators such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to aid in early detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer. This enzyme is derived from prostate tissue, which is released by normal and tumor cells, and plays a role in semen liquefaction. While serum PSA quantities often correlate with prostate volume, the researchers in this study say that the PSA is not the most optimal prognostic indicator of prostate cancer. PSA serum levels are not only elevated in prostate cancer, but also in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. This has resulted in more patients being incorrectly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Researchers, based out of California’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, the University of California, and Georgia’s Augusta University, conducted a study in hopes of solving this problem by identifying a new potential prognostic indicator of prostate cancer: “MicroRNA-4287 is a novel tumor suppressor microRNA controlling epithelial-to mesenchymal transition in prostate cancer.” This paper was chosen as the cover paper for Oncotarget’s Volume 11, Issue #51. New-York hospital “In the present study, we analyzed the role of miR-4287 in prostate cancer using clinical tissues and cell lines. We observed that miR-4287 is significantly downregulated in patient-derived tumor tissues.” Previous Studies MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have begun to emerge over the years as important molecular mediators of human biology. miRNAs have also become useful biomarkers that are capable of aiding researchers in potential early diagnosis and differentiating between a low-, intermediate-, and high-risk prostate cancer prognosis. Previous research conducted by authors in this study has revealed a particular cluster of miRNAs within the 8p region of chromosome 21 that have tumor suppressing properties and are downregulated in prostate cancer patients. This overall downregulation contributes to metastasis and disease progression. Oncotarget’s “miRNA-383, -3622a, -3622b and -4288 are significantly downregulated in prostate cancer patients and these miRNAs function as tumor suppressors and play [an] important role in preventing cancer cell growth, proliferation and metastasis.” Found in advanced prostate cancer, researchers have also uncovered the unusual deletion of miRNAs in region 8p of chromosome 21. The team uncovered a better understanding of prostate cancer progression after learning that, with the progression of this disease, miRNAs in this region are not only downregulated, but lost. “This region, in addition to harboring a tumor suppressor gene NKX3-1, [13] contains a series of miRNAs that are eventually lost upon disease progression as a result of chromosomal deletion.” Facebook Oncotarget In this study, the researchers chose to analyze a new miRNA in the 8p region of chromosome 21. To their knowledge, miRNA-4287 has never previously been studied in the context of prostate cancer progression. The Study Los Angeles hospital Supported by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, prostate carcinoma tissue samples and cell lines were collected for this study from the American Type Culture Collection, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Augusta University. The researchers used the Qiagen miRNeasy FFPE and mini kit to extract RNA from samples. The analyses they carried out included flow-symmetry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, miRNA transfections, in vitro migration and invasion assays, cellular viability assays, fluorescence-activated cell-sorting cell cycle analysis, fluorescein isothiocyanate-phalloidin staining, PSA serum level testing, and western blotting. “To understand the biological function of miR-4287 in cancer cells, we further interrogated cellular targets for miRNA-4287 using TargetScan [20].”