PCGEM1, a prostate-specific gene, is overexpressed in prostate cancer

Abstract

A prostate-specific gene, PCGEM1, was identified by differential display analysis of paired normal and prostate cancer tissues. Multiple tissue Northern blot analysis revealed that PCGEM1 was expressed exclusively in human prostate tissue. Analysis of PC-GEM1 expression in matched normal and primary tumor specimens revealed tumor-associated overexpression in 84% of patients with prostate cancer by in situ hybridization assay and in 56% of patients by reverse transcription-PCR assay. Among various prostate cancer cell lines analyzed, PCGEM1 expression was detected only in the androgen receptor-positive cell line LNCaP. Extensive DNA sequence analysis of the PCGEM1 cDNA and genomic DNA revealed that PCGEM1 lacks protein-coding capacity and suggests that it may belong to an emerging class of noncoding RNAs, also called ''riboregulators.'' The PCGEM1 locus was mapped to chromosome 2q32. Taken together, the remarkable prostate-tissue specificity and androgen-dependent expression of PCGEM1 as well as its elevated expression in a significant percentage of tumor tissues suggest specific functions of PCGEM1 in the biology and tumorigenesis of the prostate gland.riboregulator ͉ differential display ͉ androgen regulation ͉ noncoding RNA

Linc00963: A novel, long non-coding RNA involved in the transition of prostate cancer from androgen-dependence to androgen-independence

“…Although a more detailed mechanism must be discovered to explain our results, these results provide evidence that Linc00963 may function as an oncogenic molecule and linc0096 is a ubiquitous component in the gene regulatory networks of prostate cancer development and progression. Though previous studies had identified some lncRNAs aberrantly expressed exhibiting oncogenic function in PCa, such as inhibiting apoptosis or promoting cell proliferation (10,16,17,21), no direct evidence was provided indicating the role of lncRNAs in AI prostate cancer development. Our lncRNA expression profiling results and the effect of Linc00963 on tumor metastasis in LNCaP and C4-2 partially illustrate the role lnRNAs played in the transition from AD to AI and the progress of AI prostate cancer metastasis.…”

“…Emerging evidence indicates that LncRNAs which are RNA specis >200 bp in length (9) and frequently polyadenylated (10), are involved in physiological aspects of cell-type determination and tissue homeostasis (11), and in cancer lncRNAs are known to play important roles in carcinogenesis and tumor progression (12)(13)(14)(15)(16). One of the overexpressed lncRNAs in prostate cancer, PCGEM1, is tissue specific and PCa-associated lncRNA gene (15), whereas another highly expressed lncRNA, PRNCR1 (PCAT8), is pervasively transcribed from the critical region of 8q24 Region 2, which is significantly associated with PCa susceptibility (17).…”

Identification, by systematic RNA sequencing, of novel candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets in human soft tissue tumors

“…PCGEM1 is normally expressed only in prostate tissue; significant upregulation of PCGEM1 is an established biomarker for prostate cancer. 52 This potential overlap between Ewing's sarcoma and prostate cancer renews the speculation that steroid receptors, including the androgen and progesterone receptors, may have a significant role in the development and progression of malignant skeletal tumors. 53 The protein FUsed/Translocated in LipoSarcoma (FUS/TLS) binds to the androgen receptor and mediates androgen-dependent cell-cycle progression and prostate cancer growth.…”

The long non-coding RNAs, a new cancer diagnostic and therapeutic gold mine

“…HULC, for example, is highly expressed in HCC and in colorectal carcinomas that metastasized to the liver, 96,105 but not in the primary colon tumors or in non-liver metastases, whereas other three lncRNAs, PCGEM1, DD3 and PRNCR1, have been associated solely with prostate cancer. 102,[106][107][108][109] Another tissue-specific lncRNA is papillary thyroid carcinoma susceptibility candidate 3 (PTCSC3), which is thyroid specific and downregulated in tumor tissue compared with unaffected thyroid tissue. 110 A key goal for future progress is to identify lncRNAs that could potentially serve as biomarkers for specific disease states.…”