Identificação de proteínas alvo dos aptâmeros D4 e R4 ligantes de células do câncer de próstata

Abstract

The diagnostic tests currently available for prostate cancer (PCa) shows low specificity, exhibiting the need of development and implementation of new tests to diminish false positive results and avoid unnecessary biopsies. Therefore, the studies with molecules like the aptamer A4 that already demonstrated to be a promising tool for PCa diagnosis, are extremely important. The aptamer A4 target identification contributes for the early diagnosis progress and prostate cancer mortality decrease once it has the possibility of being a new biomarker and therapeutic target for PCa. Hence, the present study had the aim of progressing on the aptamer A4 functionality comprehension in its D4 (ssDNA) and R4 (ssRNA) versions, identificating the more probable target molecules and the target-aptamer interaction. The proteins MUC6, ADAM30 and NXPE2 were identified from the aptamer precipitation followed by mass spectrometry and had their interactions evaluated by molecular docking. However, future studies should validate the proteins revealed in this work and their tumorigenesis function so the aptamer can contribute for PCa diagnosis.