DNA repair genes in human fetal and adult prostatic tissues and cancer cell lines using differential RT-PCR

The present study was designed to investigate the mRNA expression of four DNA repair genes (XPCC, hMSH2, XRCC 1, and ERCC 1) in human fetal and adult prostatic tissues and cancer cell lines using differential reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). For this purpose, total RNA from four human prostrate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC-3, DU-145, and ND-I) and human fetal (n = 10) and adult (n = 10) prostates was extracted and mRNA expression was analyzed for four DNA repair genes by RT-PCR using specific oligonucleotides. For quantitation, we used β-actin as an internal standard in each tube as baseline gene expression. The results of these experiments suggest that human prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, PC-3, DU-145, and ND-I) have 2- to 10-fold lower mRNA expression for all four DNA repair genes compared with human fetal and adult prostate tissues. Expression of DNA repair gene XPCC was about 10- to 15-fold lower in prostate cancer cells compared with fetal and adult prostatic tissues. This study, for the first time, demonstrates that mRNA levels of DNA repair genes in human prostate cancer cells are significantly lower compared with the adult prostate.