Transcriptional deregulation of cell cycle by PGC1⍺ in prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer in men, only behind lung cancer. The development of precision medicine has become one of the main objectives for treating it and it seems increasingly crucial to find biomarkers that allow both to stratify patients and to propose a personalized treatment. Previous studies have described the transcriptional coactivator PPAR gamma co-activator 1 alpha (PGC1⍺) as a possible biomarker for the stratification of patients with PCa. However, despite PGC1⍺’s role in the stratification, it remains necessary to study its molecular mechanisms so that it can be targeted in personalized treatment. Taking into account that one of the characteristics of cancer is its uncontrolled cell proliferation due to cell cycle deregulation, the aim of this work is to analyze if PGC1⍺ may regulate the progression of the cycle and the G1-to-S phase transition targeting E2F transcription factor. For that, first we analyze the transcriptional program associated with PGC1⍺ and related to cell cycle; second, the activity of CDK4 and associated proteins; and lastly, the correlations between PGC1⍺ and its transcriptional program in patients.