The accuracy and sensitivity of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer diagnosis is often poor; however, the reasons for its inaccuracy have rarely been investigated, especially with respect to age. In this study, 476 healthy males, aged 10–89 years, were stratified into eight age groups, and levels of seven markers were determined: total PSA (tPSA), free PSA (fPSA), %fPSA, isoform [-2]proPSA (p2PSA), p2PSA/tPSA, %p2PSA, and the prostate health index (PHI). Both tPSA and fPSA levels increased with age. The tPSA level was highest (1.39 ng ml−1) at 70–79 years; %fPSA was highest (0.57 ng ml−1) at 10–19 years; and %p2PSA was lowest (18.33 ng ml−1) at 40–49 years. Both p2PSA and p2PSA/tPSA had relatively flat curves and showed no correlation with age (P = 0.222). PHI was a sensitive age-associated marker (P < 0.05), with two peaks and one trough. The coverage rates and radiance graphs of PHI and %p2PSA were more distinctive than those of tPSA and the other markers. In subjects older than 69 years, PHI and %p2PSA both began to decrease, approximately 10 years earlier than the decrease in tPSA. Our results suggest that the clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer using PSA should be investigated more comprehensively based on patient age. Moreover, %p2PSA and PHI could be considered as earlier markers that may be more suitable than PSA alone.

Summary˖The differences in intracellular and extracellular protein expressions between human prostate cancer lines LNCap and DU145 were examined. The proteins of the two cell lines were extracted and condensed by using protein extraction kits. And the intracellular and extracellular proteins were quantitatively detected on a micro-plate reader by using bicinchoninic acid (BCA) method. The proteins in cell culture fluid were qualitatively assayed by SELDI-TOF-MS. The results showed that the intracellular protein contents of LNCap cells were extremely higher than those of DU145 cells. After serum-free culture, both intracellular and extracellular protein contents of LNCap and DU145 were decreased to some extent. And the intracellular proteins were decreased by 5% in LNCap and by 36% in DU145 respectively, while the extracellular proteins were decreased by 89% in LNCap and 96% in DU145 respectively. SELDI assay revealed that there were 5 marker proteins in LNCap and 6 in DU145. Although both LNCap and DU145 cell lines originated from human prostate cancer, they had some differences in protein expression. Key words ˖ prostate cancer; LNCap; DU145; protein; quantitative and qualitative study; SELDI-TOF-MS Previous studies had demonstrated differences between androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells [1][2][3][4][5] . However, the differences in protein expressions between the two kinds of cells were not compared. In this study, comparison was made between LNCap and DU145 cells, representing androgen-dependent and androgen-independent cells respectively. The protein profiles of the two cell lines were examined quantitatively and qualitatively.

Background: Petite Integration Factor 1 (PIF1) is a multifunctional helicase and DNA processing enzyme that plays an important role in the process of several cancer types. However, the relationship between clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and PIF1 remains unclear. This study aims to explore the role of PIF1 in ccRCC tumorigenesis and prognosis.Methods: Based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we retrieved and verified the expression of PIF1 in ccRCC tissues as well as normal tissues. To assess the protein expression of PIF1 by using the Human Protein Atlas and the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). We also performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to differentiate the effectiveness of PIF1 in ccRCC and adjacent normal tissues. To evaluate the value of PIF1 on clinical outcomes in ccRCC patients by using multivariate methods and Kaplan‒Meier survival curves. Protein‒protein interaction (PPI) networks were made with STRING. We determined the relationship between the expression of PIF1 and immune cell infiltration with single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA).Results: Compared with normal tissues, the expression of PIF1 was significantly elevated in ccRCC. The mRNA expression of PIF1 is correlated with high TNM stage and high pathologic stage. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis showed that PIF1 was related to an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.928 to distinguish between ccRCC tissues and normal tissues. Kaplan‒Meier survival analysis showed that the overall survival (OS) of ccRCC patients with a high level of PIF1 was significantly shorter than that of those with a low level of PIF1. PIF1 may play an important role in the occurrence of tumors. Correlation analysis showed that PIF1-mediated carcinogenesis may participate in the process of tumor immune escape in ccRCC.Conclusion: PIF1 could be a reference biomarker to identify ccRCC patients with poor prognosis. PIF1 may play a distinct role in the microenvironment of ccRCC by regulating tumor infiltration of immune cells, which is a new therapeutic target to affect the growth of the tumor.