Dados do Trabalho

Título

THE EXPRESSION OF CST COMPLEX GENES IN PROSTATE CANCER CELL LINES AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH TELOMERE LENGTH

Introdução, Material, Método, Resultados, Discussão e Conclusões

Introduction and Objectives: The CST complex is a trimeric protein group consisting of CTC1, STN1 and TEN1, acting in telomere protection, regulation of telomeres activity, telomere DNA replication and for regulation of telomere length. Telomere dysfunction is associated to prostate cancer (PCa) progression, but we do not know yet the role of CST complex in prostate neoplasia. Because of that, this study evaluated the gene expression of CST in PCa cell lines and its relationship with telomere length.
Materials and Methods: The gene expression of CTC1, STN1 and TEN1 and telomere length was evaluated in metastatic PCa cell lines, LNCaP, DU145 and PC3 by Q-PCR assay, PNT2 cell line (normal prostate cancer epithelium immortalized) was used as control group. ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis.
Results: In all cell lines we found an upregulation of TEN1 and STN1 compared with control group (p= 0.0024 and p= 0.0007, respectively). The expression of CTC1 was upregulated in LNCaP and PC3 cell lines when compare with control group (p= 0.0189 and p= 0.0029). However, when we compared DU145 with other cancer cell line we found a downregulation of CTC1 (p= 0.0013). When we analyzed the telomere length, we found a shorter telomere in LNCaP, PC3 cell lines (p<0.001) and longer telomere in DU145 cell line (p<0.001).
Conclusion: We can conclude that CST complex subunits are modified in PCa metastatic cell lines. Our main hypothesis is the abnormally long telomeres and CTC1 downregulation might be associated with disease progression to the brain microenvironment.
Financial Support: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES - Brazil)

Palavras Chave

Telomere; Gene Expression; CST Complex