Project description:A major challenge in the clinical management of prostate cancer is the inability to definitively diagnose indolent versus aggressive cases. Contributing to this challenge is a lack of basic science understanding of the molecular basis behind aggressiveness subtypes in prostate cancer. DNA methylation is the epigenetic addition of a methyl group to the DNA base cytosine and has been found to regulate cell proliferation and environmental adaptation. We hypothesized that DNA methylation changes are a mechanism by which an aggressive cancer attains phenotypes that distinguish it from indolent cases via disruption of regulatory networks. This hypothesis was tested by comparing DNA methylation between benign prostate and both low grade (Gleason score 6) and high grade (Gleason score 8 to 10) groups. Methylome-wide next generation sequencing was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples from radical prostatectomy cases using MBD-isolated genome sequencing (MiGS). This technique uses a DNA methylation binding protein (MBD) to purify fragments from a genomic library with a high level of CpG DNA methylation. These fragments were then sequenced via next generation sequencing, the reads were aligned to a reference genome, and then the reads were counted within non-overlapping 50bp windows genome wide. Statistical analysis was then performed on these windowed counts to produce differentially methylated regions (DMRs). MBD-isolated Genome Sequencing (MiGS) for groups of benign prostate (from cystoprostatectomy), low grade prostate cancer (from radical prostatectomy with Gleason Score 6), and high grade prostate cancer (from radical prostatectomy with Gleason Scores 8 to 10) in both European Americans and African Americans
Project description:Screening of differentially expressed genes between benign and prostate tumors with respect to different prostate cancer gleason score 6 and 8 Keywords: disease subtype analysis
Project description:In order to identify methylation changes in prostate cancer, we performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation using Agilent human CpG island arrays. We then chose specific genes to validate methylation both in the same cases as were hybridized to the array (using quantitative EpiTYPER analysis) and in an independent series of prostate cancer samples (using MethyLight quantitative methylation specific PCR). We specifically chose low grade (Gleason score 6 cases) and high grade (Gleason score 8 cases) to discover methylated genes/loci that may be involved in the progression to a higher grade of prostate cancer.
Project description:In order to identify methylation changes in prostate cancer, we performed a genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation using Agilent human CpG island arrays. We then chose specific genes to validate methylation both in the same cases as were hybridized to the array (using quantitative EpiTYPER analysis) and in an independent series of prostate cancer samples (using MethyLight quantitative methylation specific PCR). We specifically chose low grade (Gleason score 6 cases) and high grade (Gleason score 8 cases) to discover methylated genes/loci that may be involved in the progression to a higher grade of prostate cancer. We collected 20 specimens consisting of 10 Gleason 6 and 10 Gleason 8 prostate cancers, and compared these to a reference lymphocyte pool (6 age matched, healthy men) to determine cancer associated methylation changes as well as disease progression associated methylation changes. We performed the differential methylation hybridization procedure as described by Yan et al. (Methods, 2002) on each case to enrich for methylated DNA. Each specimen in the reference pool underwent the same enrichment with amplicons being pooled at the end of the procedure. Each prostate cancer case was subsequently co-hybridized to the microarray with the reference pool.
Project description:To study feasibility of gene expression profiling from FFPE tissues using NuGen amplified mRNA hybridized on Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays, we designed a pilot study utilizing samples from prostate cancer cohort. We selected samples from large-scale epidemiologic studies and clinical trials representative of a wide variety of fixation times, block ages and block storage conditions. We profiled seven paired tumor and adjacent normal prostate tissue samples from three patients with Gleason score 8, one with Gleason score 7 and three with Gleason 6 disease. 11 samples had two or three technical replicates.
Project description:The transcriptomic heterogeneity of the prostate cancer was tested by profiling histologically distinct but equally graded (Gleason score 4+5=9/10) cancer nodules from a surgically removed prostate cancer. We found that not only that the genes were differently regulated in the two nodules but also that expression fluctuations were differently controlled and the gene networks differently remodeled.
Project description:Gleason grading is an important prognostic indicator for prostate adenocarcinoma and is crucial for patient treatment decisions. However, intermediate-risk patients diagnosed in Gleason Grade Groups (GG) 2 and GG3 can harbour either aggressive or non-aggressive disease, resulting in under- or over-treatment of a significant number of patients. Here, we performed proteomic, differential expression, machine learning, and survival analyses for 1,348 matched tumour and benign samples from 278 patients. Three proteins (F5, TMEM126B and EARS2) were identified as candidate biomarkers in patients with biochemical recurrence. Multivariate Cox regression yielded 18 proteins, from which a risk score was constructed to dichotomise prostate cancer patients into low- and high-risk groups. This 18-protein signature is prognostic for the risk of biochemical recurrence and completely independent of the intermediate GG. Our results suggest that markers generated by computational proteomic profiling have the potential for clinical applications including integration into prostate cancer management.
Project description:Although many genes have been proposed to be involved in prostate carcinogenesis, no single gene or gene profile has shown to have prognostic value. The main challenge for clinical management is to distinguish slowly growing tumors from those that will relapse. In this study, we compared expression profiles of 18 prostate samples (7 with Gleason 6, 8 with Gleason 7 and 3 with Gleason score equal or higher than 8) and 5 non-neoplastic prostate samples, using the GeneChip® Human Exon Array 1.0 ST of Affymetrix. Microarray analysis revealed 99 genes showing statistically significant differences among tumors with Gleason score 6, 7 and 8. In addition, mRNA expression of 29 selected genes was analyzed by qRT-PCR with microfluidic cards in an extended series of 30 prostate tumors. From these, 29 were selected to be validated and the differential expression of 18 of them (62%) was independently confirmed by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (14 upregulated and 4 downregulated in higher Gleason scores) in the extended series. This list was further narrowed down to 12 genes that were differentially expressed in tumors with Gleason score of 6-7 vs 8. Finally, the protein levels of two genes from the 12-gene signature (SEC14L1 and TCEB1) were additionally validated by immunohistochemistry. Strong protein levels of both genes were correlated with Gleason score, stage, and PSA progression. We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying cellularisation and identified distinct classes of up-regulated genes during this process.