O papilomavírus humano (HPV) e a expressão de biomarcadores de agressividade no câncer de próstata

Abstract

Cancer is a disease initiated by gene dysregulation caused by the accumulation of mutations in DNA. In the process of tumor development, genes are differentially expressed as a way of maintaining the phenotypic heterogeneity characteristic of cancer cells. Therefore, evaluating the gene expression profile at different clinical stages of the disease and under the influence of certain factors becomes essential for understanding oncogenic mechanisms and potential therapeutic and prognostic targets in cancer. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of HPV infection on the expression profile of five molecular targets involved in mechanisms of cancer aggressiveness in malignant neoplastic tissues of the prostate. For this, samples of prostate biopsies were collected from 42 patients in the city of Macapá-AP; of these, 30 were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 12 without the disease; of the total samples, HPV was detected in five patients with cancer (n=5) and in two without cancer (n=2). The analysis of gene expression of the targets HOXC6, MCPIP3, CREB3L4, LINC01082 and TRIP13 occurred by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction of retrotranscribed RNA (RT-qPCR) by the comparative method of quantification cycle, or also called Threshold cycle. The present study found HOXC6 and TRIP13 genes with increased expression in prostate cancer compared to the non-cancer group; non-coding RNA 01082 was significantly less expressed in the presence of prostate cancer; the HOXC6 gene was statistically more expressed in prostate biopsies classified as more aggressive. The presence of HPV altered the consistency of the HOXC6 and LINC01082 genes as cancer markers, since the difference previously found in these genes in the presence and absence of cancer was not observed for these same variables in the presence of HPV. For the MCPIP3 gene, the presence of HPV in cancer samples resulted in a drastic reduction in the expression of this target, drawing attention to the fact that this gene plays an important role in reducing inflammatory mechanisms. Therefore, the present study contributes evidence of three potential prognostic biomarkers of prostate cancer in the studied population and demonstrates that HPV contributes to differential gene expression in the cancerous prostate microenvironment