Exploiting the transcriptional specificity of the alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase AMACR promoter for the molecular imaging of prostate cancer.

ABSTRACT: The metabolic protein alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) is significantly overexpressed in prostate cancer compared to the normal prostate and other non-malignant tissue. Though an attractive target, there are no reports in the literature on leveraging the expression of AMACR for the molecular imaging of prostate cancer. Here, we used a molecular-genetic imaging strategy to exploit the transcriptional specificity of the AMACR promoter for the in vivo detection of prostate cancer using the reporter gene luciferase. We performed a stepwise truncation of the promoter and identified a 565 base pair minimal promoter for AMACR that retained both high activity and specificity. Following identification of the minimal promoter for AMACR, we used an advanced two-step transcriptional amplif

SUBMITTER: Shapovalova M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6291171 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature