Th142 - Evaluation of the MAPK and PI3K Signaling Pathways in Cancer Stem Cells Isolated from Prostate Cancer Tumor Tissues, a Preliminary Study

Abstract Text: Prostate cancer (PCa) has become a major threat to men’s health to date, being the fifth-leading cause of death worldwide for men. Nowadays, studies have demonstrated that cancer stem cells (CSCs) play a decisive role in cancer relapse, including the formation, metastasis, drug resistance, and recurrence of cancer. These cells have dual capacities: self-renewal and differentiation. It is known that PI3K/AKT and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways can lead CSCs to proliferate into forming a prostate tumor. Currently, not much is known about these types of cells, which highlights the importance of researching its biology to understand the mechanisms underlying cancer resistance and metastasis.

Aim: Isolate prostate cancer stem cells from patient’s prostate tumors and evaluate the expression of MAPK and PI3K signaling pathways.

Methods: The prostate cancer biopsies were obtained from the Angeles del Carmen general hospital in Jalisco, Mexico. Five samples were disintegrated via the use of collagenase and left to grow with DMEM F-12 medium. Immunophenotyping was performed by flow cytometry. Subsequently, protein extraction was done and the expression of signaling pathways was analyzed by Western Blot.

Results: The cells were isolated after six weeks of culture and the main CSC markers were observed. Our results confirm that both ERK and AKT were expressed by these cells. ERK is observed to be significantly overexpressed in most samples while AKT is observed to have weak expression.

Conclusion: ERK1/2 was highly expressed in stem cells from PCa patients and AKT to a lesser extent.