Metastasis is the primary cause of death in prostate cancer (PCa) patients. Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have long been considered "housekeeping" genes with no relevance for cancer biology. Emerging evidence has challenged this assumption, suggesting that snoRNA expression is frequently modulated during cancer progression. Despite this, no study has systematically addressed the prognostic and functional significance of snoRNAs in PCa. We performed RNA Sequencing on paired metastatic/non-metastatic PCa xenografts derived from clinical specimens. The clinical significance of differentially expressed snoRNAs was further investigated in two independent primary PCa cohorts (131 and 43 patients, respectively). The snoRNA demonstrating the strongest association with clinical outcome was quantified in PCa patient-derived serum samples and its functional relevance was investigated in PCa cells via gene expression profiling, pathway analysis and gene silencing. Our comparison revealed 21 differentially expressed snoRNAs in the metastatic vs. non-metastatic xenografts. Of those, 12 were represented in clinical databases and were further analyzed. SNORA55 emerged as a predictor of shorter relapse-free survival (results confirmed in two independent databases). SNORA55 was reproducibly detectable in serum samples from PCa patients. SNORA55 silencing in PCa cell lines significantly inhibited cell proliferation and migration. Pathway analysis revealed that SNORA55 expression is significantly associated with growth factor signaling and pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in PCa. Our results demonstrate that SNORA55 up-regulation predicts PCa progression and that silencing this non-coding gene affects PCa cell proliferation and metastatic potential, thus positioning it as both a novel biomarker and therapeutic target.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 August 2018.
All research outputs
#6,451,740
of 24,471,305 outputs
Outputs from Molecular Oncology
#496
of 1,634 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#96,022
of 400,328 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Molecular Oncology
#10
of 35 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 24,471,305 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 73rd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,634 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 400,328 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 75% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 35 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 71% of its contemporaries.
