Frontiers in Endocrinology (Feb 2024)

Positive correlation between the nuclear expression of GPER and pGLI3 in prostate cancer tissues from patients with different Gleason scores

  • Cecilia Rico-Fuentes,
  • Cecilia Rico-Fuentes,
  • Edgar Iván López-Pulido,
  • Edsaúl Emilio Pérez-Guerrero,
  • Marisol Godínez-Rubí,
  • Marisol Godínez-Rubí,
  • Julio César Villegas-Pineda,
  • Julio César Villegas-Pineda,
  • Martha Arisbeth Villanueva-Pérez,
  • Erick Sierra-Díaz,
  • José Sergio Zepeda-Nuño,
  • Ana Laura Pereira-Suárez,
  • Ana Laura Pereira-Suárez,
  • Adrián Ramírez-de-Arellano

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2024.1333284
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most prevalent cause of death in the male population worldwide. The G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor (GPER) has been gaining relevance in the development of PCa. Hedgehog (Hh) pathway activation is associated with aggressiveness, metastasis, and relapse in PCa patients. To date, no studies have evaluated the crosstalk between the GPER and the Hh pathway along different group grades in PCa. We conducted an analysis of paraffin-embedded tissues derived from patients with different prognostic grade of PCa using immunohistochemistry. Expression and correlation between GPER and glioma associated oncogene homologue (GLI) transcriptional factors in the parenchyma and stroma of PCa tumors were evaluated. Our results indicate that GPER is highly expressed in the nucleus and increases with higher grade groups. Additionally, GPER’s expression correlates with pGLI3 nuclear expression across different grade groups in PCa tissues; however, whether the receptor induces the activation of GLI transcriptional factors, or the latter modulate the expression of GPER is yet to be discovered, as well as the functional consequence of this correlation.

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