BACKGROUND: Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently appeared as new players in cancer biology. Recently, a number of new prostate cancer-associated lncRNAs has been listed via RNA-seq approach by Mitranscriptome project. By analyzing this data we chose four lncRNAs (Prcat17.3, Prcat38, Prcat47, and Cat2184.4) and evaluated their expressions and their abilities to discriminate prostate tumors from benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: Fresh Prostate tissue samples (30 BPH, and 30 tumor samples) and urine samples (19 BPH, and 19 tumor samples) were collected and their total RNA extracted for cDNA syntheses. The expression of candidate lncRNAs was assessed by the real-time PCR technique. RESULTS: Our data revealed that the expression levels of PRCAT17.3 (P < 0.0001) and PRCAT38 (P < 0.0002) were significantly upregulated in human prostate cancer tissues, compared to BPH ones. Moreover, the altered expression was much higher for PRCAT17.3 (â¼2000 folds) than PRCAT38 (â¼50 folds). In contrast, the expression of Cat2184.4 showed a significant down-regulation in tumor samples (P < 0.0001), compared to BPH ones. While the expression level of PRCAT47 was increased in cancer samples, the changes were not statistically significant. In discriminating prostate tumors from BPH samples, Prcat17.3 (AUC-ROC, 0.927) demonstrated a better diagnostic efficacy than Prcat38 (AUC-ROC, 0.778). Moreover, real-time RT-PCR analyses on urine samples of prostate cancer patients revealed that prcat17.3 level is significantly elevated, (P < 0.0197; AUC-ROC value of 0.72), compared to that of BPH patients. CONCLUSION: We introduce here two novel lncRNAs with a potential application in diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Prostatic Hyperplasia/diagnosis , Prostatic Neoplasms/diagnosis , RNA, Long Noncoding/biosynthesis , Aged , Cell Line, Tumor , Diagnosis, Differential , Gene Expression , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Grading , Prostatic Hyperplasia/genetics , Prostatic Hyperplasia/pathology , Prostatic Hyperplasia/urine , Prostatic Neoplasms/genetics , Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology , Prostatic Neoplasms/urine , RNA, Long Noncoding/genetics , RNA, Long Noncoding/urine , Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
OBJECTIVE: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have a potential application for cell therapy, however, their biological nature is not well-understood. EPCs also possess some stemness features, such as their clonogenicity and differentiation capacity. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of certain transcription factors regulating selfrenewal property of stem cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from fresh human blood of several volunteers and were cultured in fibronectin- coated plates. EPCs were identified based on their morphology and growth characteristic. Then, the expression of some markers implicated in self-renewal capacity was assessed in the isolated cells using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) and immunocytochemistry. RESULTS: Expression of the cell surface markers, CD31 and CD34, was determined by RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. Furthermore, these cells had the ability for Di-ACLDL incorporation as well as attachment to lectin I. EPCs did not express the main stem cell markers, like OCT4-A, Nanog, and Sox2; nevertheless, they expressed the weaker pluripotent markers, including OCT4B and OCT4-B1 spliced variants, such as Nucleostemin and ZFX. Furthermore, the expression of Nucleostemin and ZFX genes revealed a decreasing pattern from days 4(th) to 11(th). CONCLUSION: The main regulators of stem cell self-renewal genes, including OCT4-A, Nanog, and Sox2 are not expressed in EPCs. Forced expression of these genes can elevate the stemness property and clinical application of EPCs.
