Increased Expression of Tripartite Motif (TRIM) 47 Is a Negative Prognostic Predictor in Human Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Many prognostic biomarkers associated with androgen signaling have been proposed in PC. The role of tripartite motif (TRIM) proteins remains unclear in PC. We investigated TRIM protein 47 (TRIM47) expression levels in human prostate tissues. METHODS: We performed immunohistochemistry using original TRIM47 antibody in prostate tissues obtained by radical prostatectomy (n = 105). Stained slides were evaluated for the proportion and staining intensity of immunoreactive cells. Total immunoreactivity (IR) scores (range, 0-8) were calculated as the sum of the proportion and intensity scores. TRIM47 expression levels were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Associations between the clinicopathologic features of the patients and their TRIM47 status were analyzed. RESULTS: Western blot analysis validated the specificity of the anti-TRIM47 antibody in 293T cells. TRIM47 expression levels were found to be significantly increased in PC compared to benign tissues by both immunohistochemistry (P < .0001) and qRT-PCR (P = .003). Additionally, advanced pathologic stage (≥ T3b) was found to be associated with high TRIM47 IR scores (≥ 4; P = .04). Furthermore, high TRIM47 IR scores were also significantly correlated with worse cancer-specific survival rates in multivariate regression analyses (hazard ratio, 6.82; P = .016). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicated differential TRIM47 expression levels in human prostate tissues compared to benign tissues. Because high levels of TRIM47 expression were found to be a strong prognostic factor in PC, TRIM47 may represent a novel therapeutic target.

Clinical significance of steroid and xenobiotic receptor and its targeted gene CYP3A4 in human prostate cancer.

The steroid and xenobiotic receptor (SXR) regulates cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, which are key inactivators of testosterone in the liver and prostate. In the present study, we investigated SXR expression in human prostate tissues. We determined SXR immunoreactivity using an anti-SXR antibody in benign (n = 78) and cancerous (n = 106) tissues obtained by radical prostatectomy. Stained slides were evaluated for the proportion and staining intensity of immunoreactive cells. Total immunoreactivity (IR) scores (range: 0-8) were calculated as the sum of the proportion and intensity scores. Associations between the clinicopathological features of the patients, SXR status, and CYP3A4 immunoreactivity were analyzed. Western blot analyses validated the specificity of the anti-SXR antibody in 293T cells transfected with pcDNA-FLAG-SXR. Positive (IR score: ≥ 2) nuclear SXR staining was observed in 91% (71/78) of benign foci and 47% (50/106) of cancerous lesions. Immunoreactivity scores were significantly lower in the cancerous lesions than in the benign foci (P < 0.0001). Clinicopathological analyses showed that cancer-specific survival in patients with high SXR IR scores (≥ 4) was significantly increased (P = 0.046). Combined data of present and previous studies showed that high IR scores for both the SXR and CYP3A4 correlated with significantly better cancer-specific survival rates in multivariate regression analyses (hazard ratio: 2.15, 95% confidence interval: 1.25-3.55, P = 0.007). We showed differential SXR expression in human prostate tissues. The high expression of the SXR and CYP3A4 is a strong prognostic indicator of favorable outcomes in prostate cancer, and could be a therapeutic target.