Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) has a high prevalence of up to 15% and accounts for 90-95% of prostatitis diagnoses, and yet its etiopathogenesis and link to prostate cancer (PCa) are still unclear. Here, we investigated microRNAs in exosomes isolated from blood and post-prostatic-massage urine of CP/CPPS type IIIb patients and healthy men. THP-1 monocytes (human leukemia monocytic cell line) were treated with exosomes and subjected to mRNA arrays "Cancer Inflammation and Immunity Crosstalk" and "Transcription Factors". Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), the expression of CP/CPPS-associated microRNAs was analyzed in PCa and normal prostate tissue. In silico functional studies were carried out to explore the disease ontology of CP/CPPS. In CP/CPPS, urine exosomes exhibited significant upregulation of eight PCa-specific microRNAs (e.g., hsa-miR-501, hsa-miR-20a, hsa-miR-106), whose target genes were significantly enriched for GO terms, hallmark gene sets and pathways specific for carcinogenesis. In THP-1 monocytes, CP/CPPS-derived urine exosomes induced an upregulation of PCa-associated proinflammatory genes (e.g., CCR2 and TLR2) and proto-oncogene transcription factors (e.g., MYB and JUNB). In contrast, CP/CPPS-derived blood exosomes exhibited molecular properties similar to those of healthy men. Thus, CP/CPPS exhibits molecular changes that constitute a risk for PCa and should be considered in development of PCa biomarkers and cancer screening programmes.
Molecular oncology. 2022 Nov 01 [Epub ahead of print]
Laura Schneider, Temuujin Dansranjav, Elena Neumann, Hang Yan, Adrian Pilatz, Hans-Christian Schuppe, Florian Wagenlehner, Undraga Schagdarsurengin
Clinic of Urology, Pediatric Urology and Andrology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Germany., Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Campus Kerckhoff, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Bad Nauheim, Germany.