Lifestyle and Prostate Cancer: Influence of Diet Supplemented with Jabuticaba Peel Extract (Myrciaria jaboticaba) and physical exercise on disease progression mechanisms in vitro and preclinical model in vivo

• Grant number: 24/03822-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Montico
• Grantee: Bianca Barbosa Rezende
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Prostate cancer is a global health concern, influenced by genetic factors, age, lifestyle, and ethnic traits. Currently, pre-clinical models, such as the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP), have been used to study the progression of this disease due to its well-characterized tumor progression. Physical exercise has been studied as a preventive strategy to reduce the risk of cancer progression, as regular physical activities seem to modulate the immune system. Furthermore, the use of natural compounds, such as jabuticaba peel extract (JPE), rich in polyphenols, has also shown chemopreventive potential, reducing the expression of inflammatory markers and oxidative stress. The general aim of this study will be to evaluate the antitumor actions of JPE and physical exercise practice on the progression of prostate cancer in vivo and in vitro, focusing on the effects of these approaches on oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis pathways. For this purpose, 120 TRAMP male mice will be used, divided into four groups: Sedentary TRAMP (SED); Sedentary TRAMP + Jabuticaba (SEDJAB); Exercised TRAMP (EX), and Exercised TRAMP + Jabuticaba (EXJAB). After eight weeks of treatment and/or treadmill exercise practice, the animals will be euthanized, and samples from the dorsolateral lobe of the prostate and blood will be collected and processed for morphological, immunohistochemical, Western Blotting analyses as well as determination of enzymatic activity and plasmatic cytokine profile. In addition, the serum and dorsolateral prostate of part of the experimental animals will be isolated for conditioning the culture medium to be used in in vitro experiments. In these assays, prostatic tumor cells of the TRAMP-C1 lineage will be cultivated in serum-supplemented medium (SSM) or conditioned medium obtained from the prostate (CMP) to evaluate, respectively, the systemic and tissue effects of physical exercise and JPE treatment. Such effects will be accessed through analyses of cell viability, migration, apoptosis, and protein expression by Western Blotting.