Published in

MDPI, Genes, 11(12), p. 1726, 2021

DOI: 10.3390/genes12111726

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Ultrasound-Based Method for the Identification of Novel MicroRNA Biomarkers in Prostate Cancer

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The detection of circulating microRNA (miRNA)-based biomarkers represents an innovative, non-invasive method for the early detection of cancer. However, the low concentration of miRNAs released in body fluids and the difficult identification of the tumor site have limited their clinical use as effective cancer biomarkers. To evaluate if ultrasound treatment could amplify the release of extracellular cancer biomarkers, we treated a panel of prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines with an ultrasound-based prototype and profiled the release of miRNAs in the extracellular space, with the aim of identifying novel miRNA-based biomarkers that could be used for PCa diagnosis and the monitoring of tumor evolution. We provide evidence that US-mediated sonoporation amplifies the release of miRNAs from both androgen-dependent (AD) and -independent (AI) PCa cells. We identified four PCa-related miRNAs, whose levels in LNCaP and DU145 supernatants were significantly increased following ultrasound treatment: mir-629-5p, mir-374-5p, mir-194-5p, and let-7d-5p. We further analyzed a publicly available dataset of PCa, showing that the serum expression of these novel miRNAs was upregulated in PCa patients compared to controls, thus confirming their clinical relevance. Our findings highlight the potential of using ultrasound to identify novel cell-free miRNAs released from cancer cells, with the aim of developing new biomarkers with diagnostic and predictive value.