MicroRNAs 125b, 221 and 222 in LNCaP prostatic tumoral cells cultivated with fibronectin

• Grant number: 13/07107-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: November 06, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal Investigator: Flávia Karina Delella
• Grantee: Brenda de Carvalho Minatel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/00831-5 - Enhancement of molecular techniques for the study of tumor cells using lung cancer as a model, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The prostate is a gland of the male genital system, found only in mammals, whose main function is to produce part of seminal fluid. Prostatic lesions occur most commonly in middle-aged men and prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed among men in America and in the Western Europe. The development of PCa is a slow process and can result from accumulation of damages promoted for decades, involving, among other factors, genetic and epigenetic alterations that disrupt the molecular mechanisms that control cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. With the increase in the number of men diagnosed with PCa, it's increasing the amount of new therapeutic alternatives in order to reduce the progress of the disease. Recent findings suggest that human tumors have epigenetic changes such as unregulated expression of microRNAs, molecules considered new oncogenes or tumor suppressors, which may be useful as biomarkers for tumor diagnosis, prognosis and staging. Considering the importance of further studies focusing on PCa biology and the important action of some microRNAs in PCa, this study aims to investigate the expression of the oncogenic microRNAs miR-125b, miR-221 and miR-222 in prostate tumor LNCaP cells exposed to the extracellular matrix component fibronectin.