Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 8, 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
SUMOylation and palmitoylation in metastatic prostate cancer: A compartment-based framework for nuclear and membrane
Shuangyu Ji1, Shiyu Li1, Yong Wei1
1Department of Urology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Urological Disease Prevention and Treatment, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract:
Metastatic prostate cancer remains lethal despite treatment intensification, in part because tumor cells can adopt rapid and reversible states that are not fully explained by genomic alterations. Post-translational modifications provide a dynamic regulatory layer by changing protein activity, localization, stability, and molecular interactions. This Review evaluates SUMOylation and reversible S-palmitoylation as compartment-biased systems that regulate complementary dimensions of metastatic adaptation. SUMOylation has a comparatively mature mechanistic foundation in androgen receptor transcription, chromatin organization, DNA damage responses, tumor-suppressor function, and stress adaptation. The prostate cancer palmitoylation literature is smaller, but it identifies discrete mechanisms involving androgen-regulated protein acylation, receptor and cytoskeletal signaling, lipid metabolism, ferroptosis, and immune regulation. We propose that these modifications converge functionally at pathway and cell-state levels rather than forming an established biochemical circuit. Their shared outputs may include treatment persistence, metabolic adaptation, cellular plasticity, invasion, and tumor-microenvironment interactions. Translation should therefore prioritize disease-specific enzyme-substrate dependencies, direct measures of target engagement, and mechanistically matched combinations with established therapies rather than global or simultaneous inhibition of both modification systems.
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Nuclear Protein Sorting
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein.
Nuclear Protein Sorting
Proteins targeted to the nucleus carry nuclear localization signals or NLS recognized by import receptors in the cytosol. Similarly, proteins with nuclear export signals are recognized by export receptors. Import and export receptors are...
Lipids as Anchors
The carboxy-terminal of most of the prenylated proteins, such as Ras proteins, contains the...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression
The mTOR pathway or the...
Proteomics
Proteomics is the study of proteomes' function. It involves the large-scale systematic study of the proteome to denote the protein complement expressed by a genome. Scientist Mark Wilkins coined the term proteomics...