Microarray analysis of differential gene expression in androgen independent prostate cancer using a metastatic human prostate cancer cell line model

Progression to androgen independence (AI) leading to uncontrolled cell growth is the main cause of death in prostate cancer. While almost all patients with metastatic prostate cancer will initially respond to anti-androgen treatments, the majority will fail hormonal treatments in less than 2 yrs. Both genetic and epigenetic alterations in gene expression contribute significantly to the development of AI. To investigate this we have used an in vitro cell line model of AI prostate cancer from which we have identified a number of differentially expressed genes associated with progression to AI in prostate cancer. We used an in vitro cell line model of AI prostate cancer, to study differential gene expression using cDNA microarray analysis and corroborated the microarray results with Ribonuclease Protection Assay (RPA). Approximately 4480 out of 7075 (63.3%) cDNA cloned genes were differentially expressed, of which, 6 genes were differentially expressed by at least fivefold. RPA was used to corroborate the microarray results for the five most highly differentially expressed genes. Using an in vitro cell line model and microarray analysis we have identified a number of candidate genes for further investigation in AI prostate cancer.