Reduced PDE4D7 in prostate cancer correlates with genomic downregulation within the upstream PDE4D coding region

Abstract

Aim: PDE4D7 expression is significantly associated with prostate cancer (PCa) progression, representing an attractive prognostic biomarker. We sought to determine whether other genes in the PDE4D coding region were associated. Patients & methods: RNA from biopsy punch samples of resected tumor tissue was analyzed via RNA sequencing. RT-qPCR was used to determine PDE4D7 score. Results: Numerous genomic sequences within the PDE4D coding region on Chr5q12 revealed similar mRNA expression profiles to PDE4D7. PART1 had a significantly similar expression pattern to PDE4D7 across samples, correlating with disease progression. However, many other genes also exhibited matched expression to PDE4D7, including miRNAs and lncRNAs. Conclusion: These novel PDE4D7-associated genes, many of which are previously uncharacterized in cancer, represent putative PCa biomarkers and could have mechanistic roles in PCa progression. Plain language summary Identification of biological molecules that can indicate the presence of a disease are known as biomarkers and are valuable in medical research. For prostate cancer, the PDE4D7 gene is helpful for determining how the disease is getting worse. To understand more, this study explored whether genes located near PDE4D7 are also connected to prostate cancer. The analysis of tumor biopsies revealed that many of these nearby genes exhibited similar expression levels to PDE4D7, indicating their association with disease development. These findings suggest that several of these nearby genes could serve as potential biomarkers for prostate cancer by giving important clues to understand and detect the disease better.