The small leucine rich proteoglycan fibromodulin is overexpressed in human prostate epithelial cancer cell lines in culture and human prostate cancer tissue
Affiliations: [a] School of Medicine, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Colombia | [b] Research Group of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Colombia | [c] New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Jan Geliebter, New York Medical College, Department of Microbiology {&} Immunology, Basic Sciences Building 311, Valhalla, NY 10595, USA. Tel.: +1 914 594 4873; E-mail:[email protected]
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Fibromodulin is a small leucine-rich proteoglycan
important for extracellular matrix organization and essential for tissue
repair in multiple organs. The main function of this proteoglycan is the
regulation of collagen fibrillogenesis; however, more recently described
roles for fibromodulin have expanded to include regulation of angiogenesis,
reprogramming of human fibroblasts into pluripotent cells, modulation of
TGF-β activity, inflammatory processes and association with
metastatic phenotypes. Additionally, fibromodulin has been identified as a
novel tumor-associated antigen in leukemia, lymphoma, and leiomyoma.
Knowledge about its expression in the prostate is limited. METHODS: Fibromodulin expression was analyzed in two different
malignant and one non-tumorigenic prostatic cell lines in culture, and in
benign and malignant human prostate tissue. Expression was analyzed by real
time PCR, immunocytochemistry, and immunohistochemistry. DNA sequencing was
performed on a PCR fragment amplified with primers specific for the FMOD
gene from cDNA obtained from the cultured cell lines. RESULTS: Both immunostaining and real time PCR analysis of cell
lines indicated that fibromodulin was differentially expressed in the
cancerous cell lines compared to the non-tumorigenic cell line. Likewise,
cancerous tissue expressed significantly higher levels of intracellular
fibromodulin compared to matched, benign tissue from the same patients, as
well as compared to tissue from patients with only benign disease. CONCLUSIONS: The expression of fibromodulin was higher in prostatic
cancer cells (cell-lines and human tissue) than in normal/benign prostatic
cells. Additional studies are required to determine the biological and
clinical significance and whether this proteoglycan has a role in
carcinogenesis of the prostate or in prostate cancer related inflammatory processes.
Keywords: Fibromodulin, extracellular matrix, inflammation, immunohistochemistry, corpora amylacea, prostate cancer
