Evaluation of miR-130b-3p and miR-375 levels and telomere length with telomerase activity in prostate cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer (PC) is the most frequent cancer in males, as well as the second highest cause of cancer-related deaths in men. Differences in expression levels of miRNAs were linked with prostat cancer pathogenesis. qPCR was used to evaluate the expression of miR-130b-3p and miR-375 in Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH (n = 20) and PC (n = 22, pre- and post-operative) patients plasma. Relative telomere lengths (RLTs) in genomic DNA isolated from plasma were measured with qPCR, and telomerase activity analyzed by the ELISA method. PSA levels of PC patients were greater than of BPH patients (p = 0.0473). miR-130b-3p and miR-375 levels were significantly lower in pre-operative specimens of PC patients according to BPH (p = 0,0362, p = 0.0168, respectively). Similarly, post-operative miR-375 levels were lower in PC patients than in BPH patients (p = 0.1866). BPH patients had shorter RTLs than PC patients in both pre- (p=0.0438) and post-operative (p=0.0297) specimens. Telomerase activity was higher in PC patients than BPH(p = 0.0129). Interestingly, telomerase activity was further increased after surgery (p = 0.0003). We aim to identify the levels of miR-130b-3p and miR-375 expression and their relationship with telomerase activity in PC patients. Our data suggest that miRNAs and telomere length (TL) with telomerase activity may play a role in regulating prostate tumorgenesis and may be used as biomarkers for PC diagnosis.