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Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Sequencing Small Non-coding RNA from Formalin-fixed Tissues and Serum-derived Exosomes from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients
Published on: November 19, 2019
Novel expressed sequences identified in a model of androgen independent prostate cancer
Steven N Quayle1, Heidi Hare, Allen D Delaney
1Genome Sciences Centre, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4E6, Canada. squayle@bccrc.ca <squayle@bccrc.ca>
Background:
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in American men, and few effective treatment options are available to patients who develop hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The molecular changes that occur to allow prostate cells to proliferate in the absence of androgens are not fully understood.
Results:
Subtractive hybridization experiments performed with samples from an in vivo model of hormonal progression identified 25 expressed sequences representing novel human transcripts. Intriguingly, these 25 sequences have small open-reading frames and are not highly conserved through evolution, suggesting many of these novel expressed sequences may be derived from untranslated regions of novel transcripts or from non-coding transcripts. Examination of a large metalibrary of human Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) tags demonstrated that only three of these novel sequences had been previously detected. RT-PCR experiments confirmed that the 6 sequences tested were expressed in specific human tissues, as well as in clinical samples of prostate cancer. Further RT-PCR experiments for five of these fragments indicated they originated from large untranslated regions of unannotated transcripts.
Conclusion:
This study underlines the value of using complementary techniques in the annotation of the human genome. The tissue-specific expression of 4 of the 6 clones tested indicates the expression of these novel transcripts is tightly regulated, and future work will determine the possible role(s) these novel transcripts may play in the progression of prostate cancer.
Insights
Researchers identified novel human transcripts that may play a role in prostate cancer progression. These sequences, often from untranslated regions, show tissue-specific expression, suggesting a regulated function in cancer development.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Cancer Biology
- Molecular Oncology
Background:
- Prostate cancer is a leading cancer diagnosis in men.
- Limited effective treatments exist for hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
- Molecular mechanisms driving androgen-independent prostate cancer proliferation are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify novel expressed sequences in prostate cancer.
- To investigate the origin and expression patterns of these novel sequences.
Main Methods:
- Subtractive hybridization with an in vivo model of hormonal progression.
- Analysis of human Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) tag library.
- Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for expression analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified 25 novel human expressed sequences with small open-reading frames.
- Most novel sequences were not previously detected in SAGE data.
- Six novel sequences showed tissue-specific expression, including in prostate cancer samples.
- Five fragments originated from large untranslated regions of unannotated transcripts.
Conclusions:
- Complementary genomic techniques are valuable for human genome annotation.
- Tissue-specific expression suggests tightly regulated novel transcripts.
- Further research is needed to determine the role of these novel transcripts in prostate cancer progression.
